Alternate History 2: The Chuunin Exam
by redit
Summary: The title is pretty self explanatory. The sequel to Alternate History. Set during the Chuunin Exam and beyond.
1. Of Propositions

**Huzzah! It's up early! Let's have a nice long chapter to start off, Alternate History 2: The Chuunin Exam… Three guesses what's going to happen later on.**

**Chapter 1- **Of Propositions

"Goukakyu no jutsu!" Sasuke shouted as he performed the said jutsu.There was a pond of water below, even though there was hardly a fire hazard in the Water Country.

I watched him perform the jutsu from my position seated on a nearby rock. We were about a kilometer from the Akatsuki base.

"There's no need to shout." I reminded him. "Just because you're voice finished breaking early, doesn't mean the rest of the world wants to hear it." I teased.

"Feh, the first time you come home in two months and all you can do is mock me." He pouted, looking embarrassed. He crossed his arms across his chest.

"Don't get so upset, I was simply poking a bit of fun." I replied, shaking my head. "Why don't you try it again?"

He obliged, this time performing the jutsu silently. It was just as impressive as his previous attempt. "You see?"

He gave me an indignant look. Then he moved so fast that the average eye wouldn't be able to keep up. Even though my peripheral vision was fading from my use of the Mangekyou, I could still see where he was headed.

His speed had improved since I'd last seen him. But then, so had my own.

He now stood on the rock behind me. He rested his chin on my head and put his arms loosely around his neck.

"I'm so glad you're back." He muttered.

"You've said that five times in the last two days." I pointed out as I rested a hand on his arm.

"Well, don't stay away for so long!" he complained.

I changed the subject. "Leader sama says he thinks you're ready to take the chuunin exam this time… It's being held in Konoha." I pulled him around to sit next to me.

"It'd be good to see what's changed." He conceded, "But how can I take it if I don't have a team?"

The numbers had been uneven in Sasuke's class once he'd joined it. That's why he'd been a genin without any practical experience for the past year. Secretly, every time I saw Sasuke's Amegakure forehead protector I felt an indescribable, but not entirely irrational sense of guilt… Konoha no longer had any Uchiha.

Anyway, that was why Leader had been reluctant to let Sasuke participate last time. But he couldn't deny Sasuke's growing skills for much longer.

"Well, there's a team in Konoha with only two people because you're not there." I replied. A new student wouldn't have been accepted into the class. It wasn't the done thing. I knew that much.

"Do you think I could participate with that team?" he asked, looking up at me with hopeful eyes.

"It would have to be organized between the Kages. I'd have to work out some kind of disguise… We'll see what happens."

He beamed. "This'll be a great way to test myself. I hope that Sandaime will agree."

I hoped so too. Sasuke would go crazy if he had to wait another six months.

The whole idea was actually more probable than it sounded. It would look very good from a political point of view, especially if the team actually made it into the later rounds of the exam.

Relations between the Leaf and Rain would be improved greatly.

'It is a good idea.' Leader agreed, 'There would be less suspicion surrounding us. I will send a message to the Hokage. Prepare Sasuke in the meantime. You only have one week.'

Once again the mental link was disconnected before I could say anything.

I turned to Sasuke and said, "Leader sama is sending a message to the Hokage right now."

"Really?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes, but in the meantime I'd better train you up a bit." I responded. "There's only one month until the exam. We want to get there a week early, plus it will take two weeks to travel there at a reasonable pace."

"Alright, but what can you teach me in just one week?" he asked, frowning.

"Something very important." I replied, holding kunai to his throat, "To not underestimate anyone." He gaped slightly as he realized what I was doing.

"How can you move so fast?" he asked, activating his Sharingan.

"Practice." A bunshin said from behind him.

"I didn't even see the hand seal." He complained, looking slightly afraid. I put my kunai away and made the bunshin dissipate.

"If you're foolish like I was, you'll end up dead." I said, looking away.

"What do you mean?"

"The last time I underestimated someone, I would've died if they had wanted to kill me… Just remember, not everyone at the chuunin exam is civil. Nor is everyone at the average level of genin." I replied seriously.

"I'll remember." He promised.

"Good, now why don't you show me how much your other jutsu have improved?" I asked, standing.

"Sure." He replied. He did all of the basics including henge, illusionary cloning, the replacement jutsu and the fire ball jutsu again.

"Looks good." I said, noticing he seemed to be a little drained after that constant chakra use. "I think we should use this week to let you get used to the Sharingan. You only learnt to awaken it recently after all."

He nodded in agreement. "I'm going to come at you as I would an enemy. See if you can block it." I challenged.

I dashed forwards as my hand formed the familiar and basic knife hand. I aimed for his solar plexus. I saw his eyes widen as he attempted to do a basic block in time.

He wasn't quite fast enough. I'd already touched him by the time he knocked my hand away.

"Good." I praised. I was quite impressed. "What did you see?" I asked.

"Well…" he began, still gripping my wrist, "I saw a blur, then a moment before you finished your attack I saw… your chakra outline, I suppose you could call it that, standing how your attack would end. I tried to block but I was too slow…" he sounded disappointed.

"You saw it so clearly, and so quickly? I'm impressed Sasuke…" I admitted. His eyes had more potential than my own.

He smiled at that, "Seriously?" I could see he was ecstatic. I'd never praised him like this before.

"So," I said, changing the subject, "can you heal broken bones yet? That was the last task Kakuzu set you when he was here last, wasn't it?"

Since Tasha, Kakuzu had been through three more partners. No one really knew what exactly happened to them, but it was very likely that they were all dead. This made me reluctant to let Sasuke continue being taught by him.

But Kakuzu had never shown any violent or aggressive behaviour towards my brother. So I allowed his education to continue whilst Kakuzu was available to give it.

"Well… not quite…" he admitted and deflated slightly.

"It would be wise to try and figure it out before the chuunin exam. Now, let's try that again. See if you can block in time."

I wasn't expecting him to do much apart from get used to defining where I was about to be and where I actually was.

Whether he passed or not, he would definitely survive the exam at this rate. I just hoped he got a decent team to work with.

**No prizes for guessing who will be in his team.**

**So, what do you think? Are we all satisfied with chapter one?**


	2. Are We There Yet?

**Yay, so many reviews. I appreciate them all! Everyone seemed positive, so I hope this chapter lives up to the previous one.**

**Chapter 2- **Are We There Yet?

Over the past few weeks, Sasuke's use of the Sharingan had improved greatly. If he had a better mastery of taijutsu, he probably would have ended up blocking my attacks.

I decided he could practice using his Sharingan while we traveled, as long as he didn't use too much chakra.

He would need to be rested for the exam itself after all. There was no point in him exerting himself right before it was to be held.

We were almost at the border of the Fire Country. The weather was much warmer here, especially at nighttime.

I thought back to our proposal to the Hokage. I was grateful that he decided to allow Sasuke to participate in the Chuunin Exam with the two-man team in Konoha.

Then again, he didn't have much of a choice. If he declined, the tension between the two countries would increase. This tension could easily lead to war.

But I was especially grateful that Sandaime had allowed me to go with Sasuke into the village. There were conditions of course.

I would have to go effectively disguised so that no suspicion or fear was aroused.

I was also not allowed within a fifty-meter radius of the Elders. But he didn't have to worry about me attempting to assassinate them. I understood very well why I had been chosen to carry out that task. If only I hadn't been so young…

I was disguised as Sasuke's would-be jonin sensei. I had the blue vest of the water country and a temporary Amegakure forehead protector.

It would be practically impossible to maintain a henge for so long. So instead I'd made simple yet effective changes to my appearance. My hair and fringe were tied back into a higher ponytail than usual.

I had also decided to use a basic genjutsu during the day to change my facial features slightly.

Sasuke told me that I looked like a girl. But perhaps it was safer that way.

Obviously I wouldn't be able to use the Sharingan either. Which really was troublesome. Who knew what strange shinobi I'd encounter?

Hatake Kakashi would probably be the only person who knew about me returning apart from the Hokage himself. He would be able to see my Sharingan whether it was activated or not. He would have to be clued in to avoid an unnecessary interrogation.

Sasuke would not go disguised. It would shock people to see him. But they would probably embrace him rather than shun him. It was the Elders I was worried about. What if they tried to assassinate him while he was there?

But Sasuke didn't have these worries bothering him. He was quite excited about returning. But I could tell that he, unavoidably, dreaded returning at the same time.

Maybe I would take him to see our family's graves. I think he's old enough to understand why I killed them, it was about time I explained my actions to him…

As we traveled, Sasuke had been reminiscing about his old classmates. It was likely that he would be up against at least some of them in the exam.

After some serious thought, he triumphantly exclaimed, "Shikamaru! Nara Shikamaru. He was so lazy, I'm surprised he bothered turning up to class."

"But, the Naras are famous for their Shadow Possession Jutsu. So keep an eye on your shadow." I cautioned in response.

"Yeah he was friends with… Chouji… Akimichi? Yeah I'm sure he was an Akimichi."

"Hm, the Expansion Jutsu. Don't underestimate his strength or reach." I advised. I didn't expect him to remember everything I said, but it was better that he was at least slightly aware of the competition.

Technically I was breaking the law… again. Sharing information like this was why missing nin were such a problem for every country.

"There weren't many girls in the class. Hinata Hyuuga… Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura were the only girls I remember talking to." He confessed.

"A Hyuuga? As you know, the Byakugan allows the owner to see almost everywhere at once. She's probably quite skilled like the rest of her conceited clan… The Yamanakas have a special jutsu to do with taking over another's body. As unnatural as it sounds, it has serious flaws. She won't be able to use her own body for at least a few minutes afterwards, even if she misses her target. The Harunos don't have any special jutsu or kekkei genkai that I know of." I explained to him as we continued to walk.

Sasuke looked a bit shocked, "Is there any family you _don't_ know about?"

I just smirked, "Oh, you know… Have to know that kind of thing as an ANBU."

He returned to trying to remember more. "I remember a boy with a dog. I think his name was Kiba…"

"Inuzuka Kiba?" I wondered, thinking about that skilled clan. Though, relying on someone or something else like they do didn't really appeal to me.

"That's right! He, Naruto and Shikamaru used to always get in trouble with Iruka sensei."

"Didn't you have an Aburame in your class as well?" I asked, now that my mind was on the topic of different clans.

He frowned, thinking back. "Oh, I remember now. Aburame Shino. He didn't talk to me much. He didn't talk to anyone much…"

"If you don't want to be tracked some time during the exam, I suggest you use your Sharingan to search for the chakra signature of bugs. They will hide in your clothes and you'll be found sooner or later." I warned.

The Aburame were very skilled. I could almost guarantee the Aburame boy would take part in the exam as soon as he graduated.

Sasuke nodded in response to my advice. He seemed a bit glum, nostalgia perhaps?

"I wonder how many of them will actually take the exam this year." I stated as we detoured around yet another town. Now that we had crossed the boarder, our forehead protectors would arouse unnecessary attention and suspicion.

Everything felt so familiar here. The closer I got to Konoha, the more my feelings would come to surface.

As for what the feelings were, I couldn't pin point them. Guilt? Remorse?

"Niisan?" Sasuke began, interrupting my thoughts. I turned to him questioningly. "How long until we get there?"

"We should get there late tomorrow at this pace." I answered.

The rapidly approaching darkness couldn't be ignored for much longer. "Actually, we should probably rest for the night. You want to be rested before we get there."

"Ok." He agreed, pulling out a scroll. From it he released some thick, waterproof material and some rations.

The rations were some kind of dried meat. If Zetsu had anything to do with the preparations, I wasn't inclined to know what it had come from.

After eating, we laid next to each other on a layer of material. The other layer was covering us, like a blanket.

The thickness was unnecessary now that we were in a warmer country. I'd rather extra warmth than to freeze though.

"Good night Sasuke." I said as I closed my eyes, resting them.

"Night." He replied. I couldn't help but think of the damper on his mood.

* * *

I had only been sleeping very lightly, so I woke straight away when Sasuke called out in his sleep "No…" he sobbed quietly. I saw a tear make its way down his cheek.

Obviously I wasn't the only one that emotion had risen in. Undoubtedly he was dreaming about the night of the massacre.

I stroked his cheek lightly, trying to calm him without waking him.

I saw him wake at my touch. When he realized who I was, he jumped back in alarm.

"It's just me." I said, "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I-I know…" He replied quietly as he returned to his original position at my side.

"That's good to know." I replied, not entirely convinced.

I ran my fingers through his hair in slow, gentle motions until he returned to sleep.

Hopefully he would rest peacefully this time.

**You've realized I love comments by now, right? Anything you don't particularly like?**


	3. On Arrival

**Ok, answers to anonymous reviews can be found at the end of this chapter. I forgot last time (guilt).  
Why do anonymous reviewers ask all the questions? I can't respond to them properly! Haha anyway, enjoy.**

**Chapter 3- **On Arrival

I looked over my shoulder at the setting sun. We were so close now, it was just over the next hill. Over the next hill and we would see the gates.

I felt something well up in my chest when I thought of that. Fear? Dread? Again I couldn't place it. I must be socially retarded to not even be able to place my own feelings.

As I observed my surroundings I felt a haunting familiarity. Hardly anything had changed over the years we had been away.

I applied my genjutsu at a higher strength as we continued to move over the hill. As we climbed we saw more and more of the gates.

The red Hiragana 'a' and 'n' stood out against the green. I could see a guard pacing in the open space of the gate. He was probably anxious to have his shift changed.

"There it is…" I announced for Sasuke's benefit. He looked slightly apprehensive as he took in the view.

It was quite a view too. The huge village was bathed in an orange glow from the sunset.

As we approached I could see that there were actually two guards at the gates.

A loud and obnoxious voice broke the serene silence, "Iruka sensei! Can't we get ramen now?"

"No, Naruto. I haven't finished my patrol duty yet. Just wait another ten minutes won't you?" Came the patient reply.

Now that we were less than twenty-five meters away I could clearly see that it was indeed Iruka who was on patrol. There was a blonde boy in bright orange. He must've been one of Iruka's students.

Sasuke and I stopped a few meters away, waiting to be addressed. "Here's someone you might recognize." He said, indicating Sasuke with a gesture.

The boy wrinkled his brows and turned to scrutinize my brother. "Hey, you do look kinda familiar. Why're foreign ninja here Iruka sensei?"

"If Kakashi hasn't told you yet there must be a reason for it. Now scat for awhile! I have a job to do!" he tried to scold, but he was still smiling.

"No way!" he said stubbornly. "Seriously, who are you?" he asked as he approached my brother.

"Naruto!" Iruka scolded, properly this time. "Don't be so rude! That's Uchiha Sasuke. He used to be in your class, remember?"

Iruka then turned to me and said, "Hokage sama wishes to see you. You'll find him in the big red building over there." He said, unnecessarily pointing it out.

"Thank you." I replied as I walked through the gates with Sasuke and that Naruto kid following.

"Village of Rain, huh?" I heard him speak at top speed. "Is it very different there? I haven't been out of the village much. My genin team only has two people." He sounded very disappointed.

"Well, it's not called the Village of Rain for nothing." Sasuke replied.

He looked a little baffled by this kid's noise and enthusiasm. Sasuke had never really been exposed to people like him. No one in his class acted like that. If they did they would be kicked out.

Certainly no one in the Akatsuki acted like that… Apart from Tobi that is. But we hadn't seen him for a few years now.

"My genin 'team' only has one person." Sasuke added.

"Ah! That's what the old man meant! Looks like we're gonna be on a team for awhile. Well, I'll see you later. That's where I live, over there." He said as he ran off.

"Uh, bye?" Sasuke replied as he shook his head a bit.

"Here's the Hokage's office anyway." I stated, motioning for him to follow me up the stairs. We stopped outside his office door and I knocked. "Come in." was the tired call.

The Chuunin Exam was a busy time for everyone, especially the Kages.

I opened the door and let Sasuke in, before closing it. "Good, you're here and adequately disguised." Sandaime said as he stood and approached us.

"Hokage sama." I greeted in response.

"The first thing we must discuss is your accommodation. Obviously you need somewhere no one will venture and discover you undisguised. I'm guessing you can't keep that guise while you sleep?" he began.

"No." I admitted.

"You mightn't be happy about it, but the back corner of the Uchiha complex remains uninhabited to this day, so as long as no one sees you enter or exit the area, it will be our safest option." He explained.

I saw Sasuke's eyes widen, but he didn't say anything. "Very well Hokage sama." I agreed, a little reluctantly.

"Of course Hatake Kakashi is the only one who does know your true identity. You will have to hide it from everyone else. We can't have the Elders finding out." A look of concern crossed his face.

He turned to my brother and said kindly, "I hope you get along with your temporary team mates, Sasuke kun. You will have the next week to train with them and their sensei, Kakashi."

"Convenient team placement." I muttered.

"Indeed." He replied. Sasuke wasn't following our conversation anymore. He looked confused.

"Let's get some dinner and rest, Sasuke." I suggested as I opened the door. He nodded as he headed back into the corridor.

I went to close the door behind us but the Hokage spoke once more, "Oh, I've also put a blank ban on people questioning Sasuke about what happened. I believe things will be... easier this way."

I nodded in response and closed the door fully. I was grateful.

* * *

We ate at the first self-service restaurant we came across. It was a place where they supplied meat for the customers to cook themselves.

I found raw meat was quite easy to check for poisoning. So after an inconspicuous yet thorough search I deemed the food safe to eat.

"Itadakimasu." Sasuke said as he put a piece of meat on the grill in the middle of our table.

"Hmm." I replied, rubbing the bridge of my nose. The tension was building up already. It was dangerous for me to be here and my instincts were only too happy to constantly inform me of that fact.

I looked up when I heard people seat themselves at the table nearest our own. There were two girls, two boys and I guessed the last man was someone's sensei.

"Thanks for inviting me too Ino!" the pink haired girl said as she took a seat.

"Well, I can't leave you with that Naruto all the time!" was the blonde girl, Ino's, reply.

"Thanks for paying for me as well Asuma sensei." The pink haired girl spoke again.

"No problem!" he replied as he pulled out a cigarette.

Meanwhile, one of the boys had slumped down in his chair. He'd begun eyeing Sasuke suspiciously.

Sasuke had also noticed this and said, "It's been awhile, Shikamaru."

"Yeah, it's been a few years… Sasuke." He replied.

Everyone at the other table turned to look at us after that verbal exchange.

"Sasuke kun?" the two girls asked in a unison. He nodded towards them in response.

"I never expected to see you again! Where've you been all this time?" again, the girl with pink hair.

"Away…" Sasuke replied vaguely.

"We heard a rumour you'd been killed too." Ino added in a mutter.

There was an awkward silence while everyone ate. The boy who I guessed was an Akimichi ate the most of course.

Just as the silence changed from awkward to serene there was a loud bang outside. I looked up in alarm and heard a voice exclaim, "KAKASHI! My eternal RIVAL! An EATING CONTEST is it?"

A blur of green shot through the door followed by a sighing Kakashi. "Evening all." He said in response to the stares.

"Hey Kakashi sensei." Sakura replied.

"I see you've met your new teammate. Why don't you two and Naruto meet me at the bridge at nine, tomorrow morning? Then we can work on our teamwork skills." He said before following who I knew to be Might Gai.

"Aww!" I heard Ino complain, "Why do you get Sasuke kun on your team?"

Sasuke had better get used to attention. I could sense it would be coming in all sorts of unwanted forms…

"I think we should leave, Sasuke." I said. "It's getting dark already."

"Ok." He said, finishing the last of his share of the food. I left the money we owed on the table and headed towards the Uchiha complex.

I felt my breaths get shallower as we approached. For some reason I was nervous.

* * *

As I had suspected earlier, the only house which remained uninhabited was our own. Most probably because I had lived there.

I slid the door open and noticed that someone had cleaned up the blood. I half expected my parents' corpses to be sitting there. Maybe their ghosts were still around…

I saw Sasuke walk past me to get inside. As he moved from room to room he ran his hand along the wall as though he was remembering.

I myself moved to the futon cupboard and pulled enough materials to make up two out.

"Sasuke, where are you?" I asked once I had made the futon up.

"Just here." He replied quietly. I could see he was shaking slightly as he leaned against the doorway. It probably wasn't from the cold...

He sat on the futon closest to him and drew his knees up, resting his chin on them. I noticed he still had his school uniform from Amegakure on. His face was about as pale as the white pants.

"Niisan…?" he began quietly.

"Yes?" I asked when he didn't go on.

"Tomorrow c-can we hold our own funeral for them? So I can say goodbye properly?" He looked up at me hopefully.

I thought he might want to do something like this. "Of course, Sasuke." I replied. "But for now get some sleep."

He nodded and kicked his shoes off before climbing into his futon. I took my own shoes off before laying back.

I didn't think either of us would sleep very well.

**Now I have to go research Japanese funerals. The next chapter might be up quite a bit later. But it's nearly the school holidays where I live so there will be regular updates coming up soon.  
****Oh, as for the ghost thing, alot of Japanese people believe in that kind of thing so I decided to include a mention.**

Anonymous Reviewers

**Rumi- **Adopt out Naruto? Ah, don't tempt me! It won't happen in this story I'm sorry.

**nnui-** That was my original plan but now it seems to be a little too cliche to me. We'll see what happens...

**HinaWeasel-** This wasn't intended to have any pairings. But if you want to read it that way then feel free to.  
Also I don't really like Ino OR Sakura, but I'm glad you're happy with it!

**Thank you everyone who reviewed, read, favourited, alerted etc. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**If you were expecting the funeral this chapter, I apologize. It's not in this one. But the next chapter will be completely dedicated to it. However, there is a mix of facts and stuff I made up about traditional Japanese funerals included in this chapter.**

**Chapter 4- **Adjusting and Preparations

I woke while it was still dark. I estimated that it was about five a.m.

After assuring myself everything was still safe, I rolled over to take a good look at my brother.

His sleeping form was curled up under his blankets. A light frown was upon his features. Possibly his mind was focusing on thoughts of the massacre… and the funeral to come.

Of course, his request to have a funeral was not entirely unexpected. I was still wondering how we would go about it.

We could hardly have a traditional ceremony. For a start the bodies would already have been cremated. We couldn't pass their bones with chopsticks, as was usually done, without digging them up first.

I definitely couldn't bring myself to do that… Not now…

But this year _was_ the fifth year after their deaths. Normally there would be some kind of remembrance ceremony on the second, fifth, seventh etc. year after the deaths of your loved ones. Some people continue this until the fiftieth year.

We could still have a meal; the meal was traditionally between family and very close friends. It would be lonely considering Sasuke and I were the only ones left.

We could also dedicate a small shrine to them. We could hang scrolls, burn incense and have flowers of course.

We could also visit the graves, actually it was probably one mass grave. We could burn incense and leave flowers there as well. I think it would also be a good time to fill Sasuke in on the events leading up to the massacre…

The incense could be easily bought, as well as decorative scrolls to write messages on.

Flowers were easily found in the springtime.

But there was a more immediate problem. Our supply of rations was almost exhausted. I would need to find something for us to eat for breakfast.

There were plenty of fruit trees around. Some kind of meal could be created with oranges, cherries and apples.

I decided to wait until Sasuke woke before raiding the trees. I could use his help.

Getting a few more hours of sleep seemed to be the most constructive thing I could do at that moment.

* * *

I woke for a second time as Sasuke jerked awake. He sat up, breathing heavily, rubbing his eyes.

"Niisan?" he asked, looking back at me.

"Yes?" I asked, wondering what he'd dreamt about. The only thing I could be sure of was that it was now about eight o'clock.

"I…It's nothing…" he replied as he got to his feet.

"If you say so."

"Um… What's for breakfast?" he asked as I too sat up.

"Are you up to raiding those fruit trees? I don't think any restaurants open this early." I replied as I stood, trying to brush the wrinkles out of my clothing.

"Ok." He replied as he tied on the Amegakure forehead protector. I felt another twinge of an indefinable emotion. Something about him wearing that forehead protector in Konoha…

* * *

When we'd eaten our fill, Sasuke made his way to 'the bridge'. I pointed him in the direction, knowing it was impossible to miss.

While he was off training, I would use the time to prepare for… the service.

I would have plenty of it, after all. Sasuke would spend most of the day just waiting for Kakashi to show up.

After finding a store and buying a few incense candles (Kakuzu would lecture me about limited funds later) I headed to a place that sold calligraphy supplies.

Of course, being a ninja I had plenty of blank scrolls at hand, but I thought Sasuke would want something a little more… traditional. I had already basically deprived him of the incense; I had to buy a low scent, low smoke- type so we wouldn't be found.

A lot of difficult questioning could ensue if we were…

Along with decoratively bordered scrolls, I bought some ink and brushes.

I returned…home… hoping no one from the Hyuuga clan was scanning the area at the time.

I put the incense and left over foodstuffs to one side and took out the decorative scrolls, brushes and ink. I unfurled one and stared at the large, blank space.

I had planned to write something on it, but what?

I finally picked up the brush and after dipping it in ink I wrote. I wrote the two kanji that made up the word 'regret'.

When my brother returned he would write his own brief message on another scroll.

Now that my preparation for the funeral was as complete as it could be at this time, I was growing restless.

I wasn't exactly pleased with leaving Sasuke alone in foreign territory. But he was growing up and I was dying. He couldn't be dependent on me forever. In fact, he couldn't be dependent on me for much longer…

I briefly wondered if he would have a funeral service in my honour when I passed away…

But I still had a few years left yet.

**Wow a normal sized chapter. The funeral will be in the next chapter, along with other angsty feelings.**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**chrin: So many plot related questions. I couldn't answer half of them yet! That's what I get for making stuff up as I go along.**

**iwalkinthelight: I'm glad you like all three parts of the story. No wasted efforts on my part then!**

**HinaWeasel: Did you really read that five times? Please, no pointy things! I will write more in time!**

**cfox: There will be more intereaction between Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke in a few chapters time. **

**Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone!**


	5. Ghosts of the Past

**Chapter 5: **Ghosts of the Past

When Sasuke returned from training with his new team and Kakashi, I was trying to calm the flow of my chakra through meditation.

In my focused state I could sense Sasuke's chakra signature approaching from about fifty meters away.

Now that he was in the same room as me, I could feel his chakra spiking from nerves… possibly fear?

I resurfaced into my normal state of consciousness and looked up to where he was standing. He was in the doorway so I could see outside, past him.

I was surprised to see it was dark outside. It must have been about eight thirty already.

I smiled slightly and stood. Traces of my calm and focused state lingered. I could still sense Sasuke's chakra, I noticed it was now spiking more in fear than nervousness.

"What are you thinking about Sasuke?" I asked.

He flinched as though I'd just hit him rather than asked him a question. "N-nothing!" he replied quickly.

I sighed to myself. I was slightly annoyed but mostly… upset. "What did I do now? Furthermore, who have you been talking to?" I asked as I approached him.

I noticed how he quickly drew a breath and hunched his shoulders as though ready to at least try and defend himself. He also took half a step back.

"Just something Kakashi sensei said about 'looking underneath the underneath'…" he responded vaguely.

"So, what did you make of that?" I questioned patiently as I bent down to his eye level.

He seemed to be trying to make himself smaller by the second.

"That… maybe I can't even trust those who've claimed to protect me all my life…" he whispered.

Of course, he still thought I was going to kill him. I couldn't expect him to ever trust me fully again…

"Good." I finally replied, much to Sasuke's obvious disbelief. "You've certainly got the hang of indirect speech."

He looked up at me incredulously.

"What were you expecting? A death blow?" I asked as I placed a hand on his head. "If I wanted to kill you I would have done it when I massacred the rest of our family." I said bluntly, trying to get the point across.

I didn't need to be able to sense Sasuke's chakra to notice the anger, which had woken in response to my blunt comment.

"Sorry." I quickly apologized. "Perhaps that was a little too blunt… But I have been preparing for the funeral all day. We can go now if you like." I offered.

"Yes please," was his response.

I collected the bag of funeral related things and suddenly remembered. "You have to write a brief message to them before we leave." I explained as I put the blank scroll, brushes and ink on the table.

He sat down and briefly thought before writing two basic hiragana meaning 'why'.

Once it had dried, I rolled the scroll up again and put it back in the bag.

* * *

It wasn't hard to find the Uchiha grave. It was simply a long, low, vertical slab of concrete located near the hero's memorial. The name of everyone I'd killed on that night was inscribed into it.

I could also see the stone, which marked Shisui's grave from here. I really did regret his death, but it had allowed me to get the power of these eyes. The eyes I'd needed to complete the mission of my life…

I felt Sasuke's grip on my sleeve slowly increase. I looked down at him to see what exactly was bothering him. I had a pretty good idea…

He looked back up at me and took a shaky breath, "Why did you do it? Please, just tell me… niisan?" I could tell he was holding back tears.

"Hmm, it's quite a tale to tell… Why don't I explain it over dinner?" I suggested as I took the two packed meals from the bag, along with the incense candles.

Sasuke lit them with a tiny Phoenix Flower Jutsu. "Excellent control." I complimented as I opened the container, which contained my own dinner.

"Well?" Sasuke questioned again. I could see the anticipation building up in his eyes.

"Well…" I repeated before launching into the longest explanation I'd ever given.

I gave him a history lesson about our clan, then explained that our clan had still been planning to usurp the Hokage.

I tried to get him to picture what it would be like if our clan had have lived. It would have been all out war. We wouldn't be the only family with one or two people left to carry the name.

The latter comment seemed to hit home and make Sasuke understand what could have been.

So I moved on, telling him how the order to exterminate the entire Uchiha clan had been placed on my thirteen-year-old shoulders.

"But," I added, "I would have killed them eventually anyway. Their deaths really are nothing compared to what could have happened."

Sasuke seemed to mull over this comment. Finally he placed the container which had previously held food into the bag with my own.

He then sat on my knees as though he was a small child again. "Why didn't I know about our clan's plan to usurp the Hokage?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"You were too young. You would've been told on your eighth birthday." I explained, expecting more questions.

"So it's the Elder's fault then?" He questioned, still looking a little confused. I couldn't blame him. I was surprised he was willing to believe me in the first place.

"_No_." I replied forcefully. "If I didn't perform the massacre at that time, I would have been forced to kill you as well."

He looked unsettled. That was the second time I'd bluntly referred to the massacre.

"How could you not have killed me?" he suddenly demanded. "You even killed the babies!" he looked at me in a disgusted manner.

"I honestly don't know." I responded, trying not to vomit at the memory of my own actions.

He didn't seem satisfied with that answer, but I couldn't give him a better one.

"Well, at least I still have you beside me…" he sighed in defeat.

"But for how much longer?" I muttered as I reached to take the scrolls out of the bag.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, putting a hand on my shoulder. I paused and wondered if I should tell him about Mangekyou and the disease.

Well, he was going to find out sooner or later…

"I find myself in a death trap Sasuke." I began. His questioning look encouraged me to continue. "I either go blind and commit suicide, or go blind and die of a terminal disease."

I could guess which of those words stood out the most to Sasuke. "Suicide? No!" he seemed to panic as he hugged me around the middle.

"I refuse to live while I'm useless." I replied stoically.

"Live? You won't live with a terminal disease either! Can't Kakuzu Sensei do something-?" he began as he leant out of my embrace to look me in the eye.

"There's no known cure." I tried to explain patiently.

"Then… I'll find one!" he proclaimed in response.

"That's impossible, I only have about four years left. You should concentrate on making yourself stronger, not on fruitlessly trying to heal me." I advised.

He looked very disappointed. "But, suicide? You won't be useless! You could still teach me!" he tried.

"I can hardly teach you about the Sharingan if I don't have it myself." The Sharingan was really the only thing I could teach him about. Others could teach Taijutsu, Genjutsu and Ninjutsu to him.

"Wait, does this mean I'll go blind too?" he asked.

"No. I'm going blind because I activated the Mangekyou Sharingan, which has a lot more power than the normal Sharingan. I deserve to go blind. To gain it I had to kill my best friend." I conceded.

"Shisui?" Sasuke asked and looked over to the stone marking Shisui's final resting-place. I nodded to communicate that he was correct.

"But… isn't there a way to stop the blindness?" he questioned desperately.

"Well, as Madara discovered to be true, if you take the eyes of another Uchiha-" I began.

"What?" Sasuke interrupted loudly. "Is that why you kept me alive?"

I simply laughed, possibly for the first time in my life. I couldn't help myself and the look on Sasuke's face when he heard my laughter made me want to laugh all the more. But instead I explained.

"I can't win, can I? Of course I don't want your eyes. I want _you_ to have _my_ eyes after I pass away."

"Wha…" he muttered, frowning again.

"You still don't see? The only reason I didn't kill everyone and then myself was because I couldn't bring myself to kill _you_. I've committed the rest of my life to ensuring you can protect yourself when I'm gone. Yet, you still won't trust me…" I finally confessed to him.

He averted his gaze once again and stayed silent for quite awhile.

Just as his weight on my knees was becoming uncomfortable, he spoke. "Niisan, I am so sorry." He whispered sincerely, bowing his head in a respectful gesture.

"After all that I've done and all that's happened, I can't really blame you for not trusting me. But… it still hurts…" I admitted as I rolled out the scrolls I'd taken from the bag earlier.

The candles flickered as the wind briefly picked up.

Sasuke's eyes travelled to my scroll. "Regret?" he asked aloud.

I let his question hang in the air.

**It's finally done! Whew, sorry it took so long. Guess who bought Ultimate Ninja recently… heh.**

**Temari, Kankuro and Gaara will appear in the next chapter. Then the Chuunin Exam will finally begin in chapter 7. Those are my plans at the moment unless anyone has any other suggestions?**


	6. The Sand Siblings

**I've changed the timeline of events in this part of the manga to accommodate my story line. That's why things may be a bit different from here on out. (Otherwise it's a stupid mistake I've made!)**

**Chapter 6**- The Sand Siblings

I turned my attention from my current task to search for the source of footsteps. I was sitting in the kitchen, facing the wall. In this position I could pretend that I didn't notice anything if the situation called for it…

The door leading from the corridor to the kitchen slowly slid open. I soon realized it was only Sasuke, so I returned my focus to the task at hand.

"What are you doing, niisan?" he asked as he looked through the bags that were on the kitchen table. Undoubtedly he was looking for food.

"I'm making a small… shrine, to honour our family. Considering our parents died here, I thought it might be a good place for it…" I explained.

Sasuke nodded as he pulled a container of cooked rice from one of the bags.

My bluntness didn't seem to be bothering him as much anymore. That was good, it meant he was maturing.

By the time I had everything arranged the way I desired, Sasuke had finished eating.

"I forgot to mention earlier," Sasuke began. I bet that rice hadn't gone down too well, it would have probably been cold and soggy.

"Kakashi sensei said he wanted to meet the both of us near the bridge. I think he's planning on explaining the Chuunin Exam to the other two." He finished.

"Tch, he left it this late? If one of them doesn't want to participate, it means you can't either." I explained, annoyed.

"What?" Sasuke asked, looking disappointed.

"We had better head off. Kakashi had better not play his waiting game with me. Turning up _three_ hours late… honestly…" I muttered, exiting the Uchiha district with Sasuke in tow.

* * *

It was only a few minutes later when I noticed an unsettling disturbance. Sasuke and I were walking through the middle of town when I heard a noise that could only be a strike landing on someone else.

The both of us looked at the fence, which was running along the path side. I knew the disturbance was happening on the other side, so I jumped into the higher branches of a nearby tree.

This effectively allowed me to observe from a distance without being observed in return. Sasuke silently landed nearby. He was in a much more visible position than I was.

I could see that he'd picked up a rock, and was currently gripping it tightly.

From our positions we could see two unfamiliar shinobi, as well as Naruto, Sakura and three smaller children.

Judging from the unfamiliar shinobi's forehead protectors, they were from the Hidden Village of Sand.

I could see the boy was threatening one of the smaller children, holding him up by the collar, fist raised as if about to strike.

It was easy to tell Naruto wasn't very happy about the situation at all.

They boy from sand moved his hand to strike the younger child, but before it could connect, Sasuke had thrown the rock at the offending hand.

The child was dropped and the boy from sand's head whipped in our direction. Obviously he was searching for the new offender.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke demanded.

"What's it to you?" he sneered in response. "This doesn't concern you or your village!"

I decided now would be a good time to intervene. "I hope you're all behaving yourselves." I said as I jumped down from the tree. "The exam doesn't start until tomorrow you know."

I noticed them pause as they took in the chunin vest and the rain forehead protector.

"That's right." Kakashi added as he appeared next to me.

"Come, you two are embarrassing our village." Came yet another voice. The owner of which soon appeared upside down in the tree near my brother.

I was sure I could see sand shifting around him. From Sasuke's slight startle, I could see he hadn't sensed his presence at all. This red haired boy was no ordinary genin.

Both of the other sand nin suddenly looked afraid. But my brother spoke first, "Who are you?" he asked.

The red head looked slightly surprised before replying, "They call me Gaara of the Desert. I'm rather inclined to learn your name as well."

"It's Uchiha Sasuke." He replied.

There was a brief silence before the boy I now knew as Gaara spoke again. "Well, hurry up you two, before I decide to kill you instead."

"R-right! Sorry!" the other boy from sand frantically replied before following him down the street.

"Yeah, me too!" the girl assured as she followed after them. All of those genin had odd things strapped to their backs. Gaara had a gourd, the girl had what I guessed was a giant fan, and the last boy had a puppet.

Once they were out of sight and ear shot, Kakashi spoke. "Konohamaru, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I need to speak to my team."

"Alright." He responded before running off with the other two smaller children. "See you later Naruto niichan!" the girl called over her shoulder. Naruto waved in return.

"Now that we're on the topic of the chunin exam, you guys should know that I've nominated all of you. If you wish to take the exam, return these papers to room number 301 tomorrow at four p.m." Kakashi briefly explained, handing out the forms.

"Yes!" Naruto yelled, "I love you Kakashi sensei!" He dived at Kakashi.

"Um, sensei… I'm no sure if I'm ready…" the girl called Sakura muttered quietly.

"Why don't you think about it over night?" Kakashi suggested from his current position on the floor.

"Oh," he added as he turned to face me. "Hokage sama wants to know if you would like to be an examiner during the chunin exam. Two chunin had to drop out; a mission came up and…" he didn't need to bother finishing his excuse.

Sandaime had obviously organized things to be this way so I wouldn't need to sneak around to watch over my brother. As a jonin I could take the place of two chunin.

"Of course, I'd be happy to fill in." I replied formally.

"Good, someone will explain everything to you tomorrow. Just go to the correct room with those kids. Now, I'll leave you three to decide for yourselves and fill out those forms." He finished, before disappearing from under Naruto.

Sasuke looked trobled. Obviously it was because of Sakura's hesitance to participate.

I walked a short distance from the others as I motioned for Sasuke to follow me.

"That girl seems rather fond of you." I muttered so we wouldn't be overheard. "It would probably help if you… encouraged her to participate."

"Isn't that a bit…" Sasuke trailed off. "What if she gets hurt or killed? It would be my fault!" he muttered in return.

"There must be something special about her, otherwise Kakashi wouldn't have nominated her in the first place." I assured him quietly.

"_Can't you read?_" I heard Sakura demand of Naruto.

"…Ok, I'll just have to protect her as well…" he conceded.

"It's good to see you have a conscience." I remarked softly.

He nodded and walked back over to the other two. "Hey, Sakura san?" I heard him begin hesitantly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

I saw her blush a little and reply, "Uh, sure! Will you go away for awhile Naruto?" she requested, somewhat rudely.

The poor kid looked hurt, but he complied all the same. Actually, he approached me.

"Excuse me, Sasuke's sensei? Will you help me fill this out?" he looked a bit nervous, as though he was expecting me to say no.

"Sure." I replied, keeping an ear and an eye on Sasuke's conversation.

"What's these kanji mean?" he asked, prodding his form. I rested my gaze on it. The form hadn't changed at all since I'd taken the exam myself.

The kanji was basic; he should have been able to read it by now. Maybe he was dyslexic?

"The question asks 'when were you born?' Just put the answer on the line."

He grinned in relief. "Thanks!" he said as he messily scribbled down an answer.

I could only just hear Sasuke's nervous speech to Sakura.

"Uh, I noticed that you seem to be really hesitant about taking the exam. I… think you should." He began.

"I-I don't know…" She replied as she blushed further. This would be easy. She was obviously head over heels already. "I've heard people die in that exam."

"But, if you don't participate, Naruto and I can't either. We have to be a team of three, which is why I came this far. I'll protect you if you're worried about dying." He said as he took her hand.

Her face was now a brilliant shade of pink. "S-Sasuke kun…? O…ok, I'll participate…" she whispered.

She was practically swooning for godssake.

"Come on Sasuke! I need to talk to you." I interrupted loudly as I started heading away from the area.

'Thank you.' I saw him mouth at Sakura as he released her hand and ran after me.

* * *

I waited until we were in an empty part of town before I began teasing my brother.

I pulled an earnest face and took one of his hands in both of mine. "I'll protect you if you're worried about dying." I quoted as I pretended to kiss his hand.

"Shut up! I think I can say you're worse than Kisame san!" he complained, wrenching his hand away.

I smirked and placed a hand on his head. "Come on _Sasuke kun_, we haven't bathed for days. Let's go to the local bathhouse. No one should be there at this time of the day." I suggested, knowing he probably wouldn't get a chance to bathe for the next week or so.

"Hn." He responded, glaring up at me, obviously embarrassed. "It worked didn't it?"

Rather than answer his question, I simply smirked at his expense.

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**yo-** Who said he would die? Who said he wouldn't?

**HinaWeasel-** I was thinking of involving the curse mark in some way... Thank you for the praise!

**iwalkinthelight-** No, Itachi's disease isn't really explained in detail. That's why I try not to elaborate on it in case it's mentioned later on.

**cfox-** Ok, no rushing from me then.


	7. Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast! Yosh!

**Firstly, if anything sounds weird, like the way Lee talks or the name of various jutsu, it's because I watch it in Japanese with subtitles or read 'scalinations' done by fans, so I just use whatever they translate it as.**

**Also, don't bother disputing "green or blue beast" with me, because it is obviously green! Aoi can refer to the colour of the sky OR plants!**

**Now that that's out of the way, enjoy!**

**Chapter 7- **Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast! YOSH!

Sasuke had been tossing and turning in his sleep for all of the previous night. Clearly he was nervous and… perhaps a little scared. I didn't blame him; the other participants could be quite savage.

But that was last night, now we were walking along the second floor corridor searching for room 301. We were of course, being closely followed by Naruto and Sakura.

It wasn't long before we came across the most obvious genjutsu I'd been subject to in a long time.

Still, a lot of the younger genin had been fooled by it. There were two boys standing in front of the door, beating up anyone who got too close.

A girl begged for entrance but was violently knocked back. There was already another boy on the ground next to her.

I suspected that all of this was an act, simply because we were outside the wrong room. It was quite simple; we'd only just passed room 228 after all.

I looked to Sasuke to see his reaction to all of this. He looked quite skeptical, as did Sakura.

Naruto however, only looked enraged. He was clearly the dense one of the three.

"Do mere _children_ like yourself really think you can take the responsibility of being a chunin?" I heard one of the boys blocking the doorway demand scornfully.

"Just let us through!" the same girl demanded. Once again she was violently smacked to the floor.

"Come on…" the other boy panted from the ground.

I couldn't help but be slightly shocked by his similarity to Maito Gai. This mystified me because the boy was obviously too old to be his son…

"You probably noticed ages ago, right Sakura san?" Sasuke asked once we were a bit closer to the commotion.

Sakura nodded, smiling. She seemed a lot more confident, probably because she had seen through the genjutsu and none of these other genin had.

"Well, I'm going to the correct room." He said as he paused briefly in front of the two who were 'guarding' the doorway.

"So, you saw through it?" One of the guards grinned. He went to kick Sasuke, but he'd already mirrored the attack.

Before either of the attacks could collide, the miniature Gai stopped them both by grabbing their legs.

He toppled Sasuke's attacker, but released my brother's leg. Suddenly his face lit up and he dashed over to Sakura.

"So, your name is Sakura? I am Rock Lee! I'll protect you until I die! Let us go out with each other!" he said, stressing almost every syllable. He then assumed what was commonly known as 'the nice guy pose'.

This boy was so freakishly similar… Could he be one of Gai's students?

Sakura shuddered and tried to get away from him. "You are so _lame_…" she muttered.

The boy now known as Rock Lee instantly looked rejected. I noticed that his injuries had suddenly disappeared. Just as I expected, they had been faking it all.

Sasuke sighed impatiently and headed further down the corridor. He was keen to find the stairs to the next floor.

* * *

Eventually we reached the end of the corridor and exited into a cavernous room.

There was a balcony situated behind us, and the much sought after staircase in front of us, on the other side of the room.

Before we could head off, Lee called down from the balcony. I briefly wondered how he had managed to get up there so fast. "Hey you, with the dark eyes. You are an Uchiha are you not?"

I had to refrain from turning my head at his mention of the Uchiha clan. "What's it to you?" Sasuke asked, glaring suspiciously.

"My name is Rock Lee!" he proclaimed as he jumped down from the balcony. "What is yours? I wish to test my techniques on someone descended from a genius clan!"

"Fine, I'm Uchiha Sasuke-"

"There will be plenty of time for these matters _during_ the exam." I quickly interjected. "I would prefer my student to be in prime condition, thank you."

"What're you saying? I can't handle him?" Sasuke demanded, frowning at me.

"For all you know, you can't." I replied simply. He didn't look very happy with my response at all.

"Hah! I could take out that bushy brow!" Naruto yelled as he ran up to him.

It was a matter of seconds before Naruto was thrown out of the way and knocked out as his head hit the wall.

This Lee's speed was quite impressive, considering his age. I sighed lightly in exasperation. "Don't come crying to me… You've got ten minutes." I added as I checked the clock, which was conveniently hanging on the wall. It was twenty-five minutes until four.

He nodded in response and activated his Sharingan. "Thank you n- sensei." Sasuke hastily corrected as he took a few steps forward.

At least he wasn't foolish enough to run into battle without it.

Lee didn't waste any time as he jumped at my brother yelling, "Konoha senpuu!"

Sasuke blocked, but Lee managed to land a strike anyway. I wish I could have used my Sharingan then to see how exactly he had done it.

I assumed he'd done something like changing from a roundhouse kick to a crescent kick at the last second. That in it's self would be a difficult feat to pull off.

"Your Sharingan might be able to see my movements, but your body isn't fast enough to defend!" Lee exclaimed as he crouched down and used a high kick to send my brother flying.

"Konoha's Shadow Dance!" he exclaimed as he flew underneath my brother. He started to unwrap the bandage around one of his arms.

I recognized a lot about this technique. I had seen Gai use it himself during the jonin exam.

I was about to throw a kunai between Lee and my brother to warn him to stop, but one of those _things_ caught his bandage, effectively dragging him to the ground.

I wasn't sure what those things were called, but I had no idea how you would use one as a projectile. I looked around to see a giant… turtle?

But I was more surprised by the fact my brother hadn't even tried to land safely. I ran forwards and caught him at the last second. I instinctively held him close.

I could feel him shaking, and I could see his eyes were wide as though in fear or shock.

"Maybe you'll choose to listen to me in the future?" I asked, squeezing his arm.

"Don't start…" Sasuke muttered as he pulled away from me.

Meanwhile, Gai had appeared behind Naruto and Sakura, asking them about Kakashi. Gai then made a claim to being better than him.

"Is he really better than Kakashi?" Sasuke asked me quietly.

I smiled slightly, "No, not _better_."

"NO?" Gai demanded. His questioning face was suddenly a little too close for comfort. "The score is 49 to 50! In MY favour!"

"My point exactly." I stated, watching the look of horror overtake his face. "One point doesn't mean that much in the scheme of things…"

"Do I… know you?" Gai questioned, looking suddenly suspicious. He seemed to sniff the air as though trying to recognize my scent.

Knowing Gai, he was probably capable of it. "I'm sure I don't know you." I interrupted as I practically dragged Sasuke away.

"Good luck Lee, my youthful student!" Gai yelled before vanishing again.

Naruto and Sakura hurried after us up the staircase.

We soon came across the real room 301, in front of which, was Kakashi. He turned to me and spoke, "If you just go through, there's a door at the back of the classroom. Ibiki san will reveal all."

I nodded and went on through the door. Kakashi obviously still had something to say to the students. "Do your best everyone." I muttered over my shoulder before closing the door behind me.

The large amount of genin shocked me. It was also surprising how many were from Amegakure.

As I walked past, heads turned curiously. On one of them the symbol was that of the Hidden Sound Village. I felt my stomach clench.

Anyone in the Akatsuki knew that was Orochimaru's village. I would have to warn Sasuke to watch out for those from it somehow…

But even worse, their appearance probably meant that Orochimaru was somewhere around here himself.

I was suddenly very glad I was an examiner. I could keep a close eye on anything suspicious.

I quickly made my way to the door at the back of the classroom, ignoring all of the funny looks I was getting.

**What the hell are those _things_ called!? **

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**yo- **You're welcome, it's my pleasure if people actually read it.

**cfox-** Teasing is always fun. Truthfully, getting Itachi to be an examiner was the best excuse I could come up with.


	8. The Written Exam

**Wow, so many responses, it's a pinwheel. I've got it now. People can stop telling me it's a pinwheel now…**

**Just kidding, thanks for enlightening me!**

**Chapter 8- **The Written Exam

This room was practically the same as the other except this one was filled with chunin. I noticed the ratio was about two chunin for every seven genin.

I spotted Ibiki talking to a woman who reeked of Orochimaru. They both stood out, as did I, simply because all of the chunin were wearing the same uniform and we weren't.

"Anko! I've told you already! You can't come in until the hour is up!" I heard him argue as I approached.

"No! There will be no one left if I wait that long!" she snapped in return.

He sighed in exasperation before acknowledging my presence with a look. "Right, you must be the jonin who's replacing Masashi and Yuuko. You will be in charge of the back two rows of genin. Everyone else has half a row each."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "So I will replace four chunin?"

"No, there aren't enough genin to fill up all of the seats so you're really only watching five extra people instead of three for cheating."

"Cheating? Rows? Is this a written exam?"

"Gee, the Rain jonin are bright aren't they?" Anko said. I wasn't sure if it was sarcasm.

I frowned at her. "Meaning?"

Ibiki on the other hand turned to look up at the clock. It was now almost four o'clock. "Sorry, there's no time to give you a proper brief. I have to get this exam underway. Right everyone! On the count of three we'll transport ourselves in there! A flashy entrance might get them to shut up for a bit." Ibiki called to the surrounding chunin.

They all nodded and formed a seal. "Three!"

The next thing I knew, we were shrouded by white smoke and Ibiki was yelling, "Shut the hell up! What do you think you Sound nin are doing?" He demanded harshly. "I'll kick you outta here if you think you can go around fighting who you want, when you want!"

"Sorry, this is our first time taking this exam. We're excited…" one of the boys replied. I noticed another boy in the Leaf forehead protector was crouching on the ground, glasses broken.

Ibiki glared at the Sound ninja for awhile before continuing. "I want you lot to take one of these numbered tabs each and an exam paper, then sit yourself in the corresponding seat."

It took a surprisingly short amount of time to get this done.

I noticed both Sasuke and Sakura were in one of the rows I would be surveying. I had formulated an idea for how I could warn Sasuke about the Sound shinobi.

But I couldn't execute my plan until he'd finished answering the questions. If someone so happened to notice it they would think he was cheating…

* * *

Ibiki had finished giving his instructions. Someone handed me a clipboard and all of the chunin took their respective seats around the edge of the classroom.

"You have one hour! Begin!" Ibiki practically roared.

While the genin used this time to read over the exam paper, I looked at the clipboard I'd been given.

The first page had a diagram of my part of the seating arrangement so I could tell who was which number.

I had seats number 49-63. But of course there were only nine genin, number 49-58. Sakura was in my front row, there was only one person between my seat on the edge of the room and hers.

Sasuke was in the same row but on the other end. The other person I recognized was Yamanaka Ino, who was seated directly behind Sakura.

I looked back at my clipboard. Each number on the diagram had five boxes below it and a few lines for comments on how they'd cheated each time.

Once all five boxes were full I'd kick them and their teammates out.

I lifted that piece of paper to see a copy of the exam on the next one. Judging from the difficulty, it was obvious that they would have to cheat to get answers.

I briefly wondered what would happen if no one in the room knew the answers.

The sheet under that was a visual list showing who was on who's team and which village they were from. It wouldn't have been that hard to get everyone's ninja ID pictures.

I guessed most people would have finished reading through the exam by now, so I looked up and surveyed the rows I was meant to watch.

Almost everyone seemed to be mentally complaining about the difficulty and sweating over it. There were also quite a few people who seemed to be thinking deeply. They were probably weighing up their options. To cheat, or not to cheat?

I could see Naruto in the second row from the front sweating over it, as was expected.

Thankfully Sasuke actually appeared to be weighing up his options, deciding on whether to cheat. I just hoped that he would make the right choice.

But to my surprise, Sakura was actually writing answers on her page. Had she already started cheating? She did seem to be the genjutsu type…

But I couldn't see anything suspicious. I wanted to use my Sharingan to make sure but obviously I couldn't. It made me realize how much I actually relied on it.

I came to the conclusion that Sakura was just extremely knowledgeable for her rank.

I checked the time to see that it had already been fifteen minutes since the exam had commenced.

I could see that Sasuke had begun to use his Sharingan. I had no doubt that he was using it to copy someone else's hand movements.

I ticked a box under his number and wrote 'Sharingan' next to it.

I noticed that Sakura had already finished the first nine questions in the exam and had put her pen down.

But I also noticed Ino using the Shintenshin jutsu on her. So I wrote 'Shintenshin no jutsu' next to her number.

* * *

Suddenly there was a loud thunk as a kunai landed in the desk directly behind Naruto. "Number 18, get out of here along with numbers 49 and 53." An examiner spoke up.

"What? How can you prove I cheated?" The boy demanded as he stood.

"We are the elite of our rank! I think we can spot your pathetic attempt at cheating without any trouble! Now all of you get out of my sight!" he commanded.

The genin to Sakura's right stood, along with the genin on Sasuke's right. The three of them left without further fuss.

I was down to watching seven of them.

As more time passed, more people were wiped out. It wasn't long before there were only five people between both of my rows.

Ino had used Shintenshin twice more since then, so she was down to four points. Everyone in my area seemed to be finished. There was another Leaf shinobi but I had no idea who he might have been.

His face was mostly covered by black material and he wore dark glasses. I was suspicious…

But now would be the perfect time to contact my brother. I used my clipboard to cover my hand as I formed the seal, which was a simple finger movement.

To Sasuke it looked like I'd suddenly appeared to be sitting on his desk, undisguised. He started a little in surprise, but I quickly explained.

"This is a genjutsu that only you can see and hear, so keep your face blank and don't respond out loud, ok?" I tricked his brain into thinking it heard.

He nodded very slightly to show he understood.

"I'm doing this to warn you about the Sound nin. As you know, Sound is the village Orochimaru created recently. This means Orochimaru is probably here himself. I suspect that one of his targets is you." Sasuke managed to control his surprise.

"So I'll be following you during the exam. I'll drop my disguising genjutsu if it comes to fighting. I will need my Sharingan. I will contact you again like this if I need to."

He nodded again and I dropped the genjutsu. He looked over at me out of the corner of his eye.

I nodded slightly in reassurance.

"ALRIGHT!" Ibiki suddenly said very loudly, successfully drawing the attention of almost everyone in the room.

"It is now time to answer the final question. But first you'll have to choose whether you want to take it or not."

A few genin exchanged confused looks.

"If you choose not to take this question, your points will be reduced to zero. _But_ if you get the question wrong, you will never be able to take the chunin exam again! You will remain genin for life."

"But there are exam veterans here!" Someone exclaimed.

"Too bad, you guys were just unlucky this year." Ibiki replied. "Now, those who want to leave just raise your hand. Your team will be failed along with you."

There was a tense silence before someone's hand went up.

"I quit. Sorry guys, we can try again next year." He said as he stood.

"Numbers 14, 26, 32. Fail." A chunin said loudly. As the first three left, many more hands went up.

Once all of them had left, Ibiki cast his eyes around. "Anyone else?"

I saw Sakura begin to raise her hand. I was a bit relieved actually. I could get Sasuke out and away from Orochimaru without raising suspicion.

But Naruto's hand shot up before she could fully raise her own. His hand came crashing down again onto his desk as he yelled. "Who cares if you're a chunin? I can still become Hokage whether I'm ranked as genin or ANBU! Believe it you old fart!"

His speech had given the remaining doubters a boost of confidence.

"Well, if that's all…" Ibiki muttered, glancing over the room for one last time. "Congratulations on passing the first test!"

I paid little attention to him as he answered the genin's disbelief. I would need to see the Hokage and tell him of my concerns.

My full attention was returned to the front of the room when Anko appeared in a most extravagant manner.

"What?" She exclaimed. "There are still this many of you left? This test was _far_ too easy!"

She still reeked of Orochimaru, but I couldn't say why. None of these chunin seemed to have a problem with her presence. Perhaps she had already proved that she was trustworthy in the past?

"Everyone! Follow me to the Forest of Death!" She proclaimed, suddenly smiling.

I mentally hoped Sasuke would do well and avoid trouble. Orochimaru wasn't the only problem. A lot of Leaf genin had made it to the next test as well. They all had an advantage when it came to the terrain.

I swiftly made my exit; I was heading for the Hokage's office. I would take this up with him now.

**Unfortunately the holidays are now over and my computer keeps breaking. Who knows when the next chapter will be up?**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**yo: No, Deidara will be a guy and there will be no pairings in this story simply because there are way too many fics with pairings. I mean, can't we all just be friends? Thanks for the suggestion anyway, keep them coming.**

**anotamous: Thank you for pointing that out.**

**cfox: Thanks again!**

**HinaWeasel: How could you say such a thing? Gai isn't a freak! He's awesomely awesome! cough, anyway, something terrible will happen to Orochimaru. I just don't know what yet...  
If the puppets are cannibalistic that means I'm safe. They'll just eat each other. Muhahaha!**


	9. The Forest of DEATH!

**I'm trying to fight off the evils of the writer's block. Please excuse the cliffhanger like ending. I can update again quite quickly if you can give me something really horrible you would like to see happen to Orochimaru.**

**Actually I might make a humour fic starring the less serious suggestions. Here are some I've already been given by my friends: impaled, castrated (ok that was mine…), wedgie and get his tongue stuck to something cold.**

**Let me know of any ideas you have! Thanks!**

**Chapter 9-** The Forest of Death

I reached out and knocked on the door of the Hokage's office.

"Come in." he replied almost immediately. I pushed the door open to see he was completing a stack of paperwork. "What brings you here?" he asked as he turned his attention to me.

"The Sound Village is Orochimaru's. He's probably hiding out in the Konoha somewhere. Also there is this woman who's probably associated with h-" I began before being interrupted.

"If by 'that woman' you mean Mitarashi Anko, then she has already proved her loyalty. As for Orochimaru being here…" he let his sentence hang as a worried look encompassed his face.

"He's probably targeting Sasuke for the Sharingan. I apologize for bringing such a threat into your village… The examinees are heading to the Forest of Death right now. Would it be all right if I watched Sasuke? If Orochimaru shows up… he's nowhere near powerful enough to fight him of…"

He smiled and nodded, silently forgiving me. "Most people would see that as cheating."

I walked closer to his desk and muttered very quietly in case there were root ANBU hiding in the ceiling. "I will just have to go undisguised, I have… other clothes…"

He would know that I meant my Akatsuki uniform. Undoubtedly Kakashi had shared that little lot with him years ago.

"What are they up to these days?" he asked casually, as though he was speaking of an old friend of the family.

"Jinchuuriki." I muttered as I walked out of his office.

* * *

I quickly found a patch of deserted bush land, which I could get changed in.

I took a small scroll from the holder on my chunin vest and, using my own blood, released the Akatsuki coat and my Leaf forehead protector.

I used my own blood as the key so that no one could find my Akatsuki related possessions by accident.

I removed the Rain forehead protector and chunin vest before sealing them away in the same scroll.

I put the coat on over the top of my other clothes and tucked the scroll into an inner pocket.

I resumed my journey to Area 44. It was only a short distance away so I traveled by treetop.

* * *

Eventually I saw the clearing in which the potential chunin had gathered. I wasn't taking any chances with being discovered, so I ensured I was hidden completely both physically and chakra-wise.

I spotted a chunin leading my brother, Naruto and Sakura to one of Area 44's entrances. The sign above clearly indicated that it was gate twelve.

To get in there unseen without waiting around and possibly losing my brother, I would have to be extremely fast.

I gathered enough chakra in my feet to make the jump between the tree I was currently in and one of the huge trees on the edge of the Forest of Death.

I pushed off the branch and flew through the air at an extremely high speed. It was just as well that I had judged the distance to be exactly correct. Otherwise it could have been a very painful landing...

From my new position in the tree I could see Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto waiting at the gate, which their chunin guide had just opened.

"The second part of the Chunin Exam, BEGIN!" I heard Anko yell.

The three of them walked inside as the gate was closed again behind them.

* * *

They didn't have to walk very far before Naruto, rather crudely, complained about needing to empty his bladder.

Sakura looked disgusted and instantly told him to go into the bushes.

Once he was out of sight, I saw Sakura eye my brother. I smirked at his expense. He would have to find his own way of dealing with 'them' sooner or later.

"So, um… Sasuke kun, I've been meaning to say-"

"Sh!" he interrupted her, "I think someone's coming…" He turned his head suspiciously.

I myself had heard the irregular scuffle of bushes long before he had. A very bad imitation of Naruto showed himself.

I prepared to activate my Sharingan. Orochimaru would never do such a terrible job of transforming, but one could never be too cautious…

Sasuke could tell he was a fake as well. I knew this immediately when he promptly punched him hard enough to make him land a couple of feet away.

"Sasuke kun? What are-" Sakura began, but once again Sasuke spoke over the top of her.

"Who are you and what have you done with Naruto?" he demanded.

"So you noticed, eh?" the imposter commented as he dropped the henge. I instantly noticed that he was a Rain shinobi.

"Masaru? What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, frowning.

This was getting dangerous. If he said anything about the Akatsuki, Sakura might repeat it. Then Sasuke would be publicly associated with the Akatsuki and our cover would be blown.

"Ha! They shouldn't have sent you here alone! Now you have no protection! The Rain shinobi are all targeting you now!" he exclaimed before vanishing.

As he left, the real Naruto returned. "What's goin' on?" he asked as he ran into the clearing.

"Nevermind, he's gone now." Sasuke muttered, clenching his fists. "We had better organize a password or something so that that doesn't happen again." I saw his eyes flicker to the right before he turned back to Naruto and Sakura.

So he had noticed it as well. There was a presence of chakra located underground not too far away. There was a suspicious and somewhat random reed poking out of the ground too. Obviously someone was listening in on their conversation.

I activated my Sharingan and the chakra was instantly revealed as Orochimaru's. I tensed in my position as I realized it was just a kagebunshin. There was another Orochimaru chakra signature behind me, several meters away.

He was performing another jutsu. It appeared to be wind natured, but I had never seen this series of handseals before.

An odd and extremely strong gust of wind suddenly picked up. I pressed myself into the trunk of the tree and used chaka in my feet and one hand to prevent myself from being blown away.

His chakra was among the gust, manipulating the wind. I couldn't be sure whether he knew about my presence or not.

The gust blew Naruto the furthest, he was out of sight within seconds. My brother and Sakura, however, were only knocked back.

Another fake Naruto ran into the clearing. This time I knew it was Orochimaru for sure.

"Wait Naruto! The password, what is the nin machine song?" Sasuke asked as he stood up again, in a fighting stance.

"Oh, right." He said before reciting several lines. It was obviously correct because Sakura looked relieved.

Sasuke on the other hand threw three kunai at him. "Oh very good." He praised. It was definitely disturbing to hear that voice coming from Naruto's mouth. "How did you know I was a fake?" he asked before turning into… a Grass nin.

"Naruto would have never remembered it. I knew you were listening so you must be the fake." He replied.

Meanwhile, I was studying 'Orochimaru'. It wasn't a henge… but there was a lot of chakra around the edge of his face.

He chuckled. "Well, this may be fun after all." He responded before forcing my brother and Sakura into a very subtly done genjutsu.

Sasuke leaned forwards violently when he was released from it. He stood shakily, activating his Sharingan.

"So, you can use it. You're worth keeping alive after all." Orochimaru commented.

Sasuke threw a kunai. It was easily dodged. He threw a windmill shuriken and a second kunai next, but once again it was dodged.

I recognized the technique he was using. He was trying to capture Orochimaru in a network of strings. Then he would run the Fireball Jutsu along the strings, seriously damaging the trapped opponent.

But I knew that plan wouldn't succeed, so I readied myself, searching for the opportune moment. Apparently the element of surprise was still mine.

I was definitely going to use it to my advantage.

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**iwalkinthelight: Thanks. Some things will be different, some things will be the same. I'm thinking of having a few major changes soon.**

**yo: ... huh? Sorry, but I don't really understand your review. Can you please check for typos and make sure the sentences make sense and everything? What do you mean he was beaten by Pein, Itachi, Sasori and Deidara? (confused...)**

**HinaWeasel: But I'm not a human puppet. Stop trying to eat me! (smacks random puppet) I forgot to tell you, I too am a ninja! As for your question, you'll have to wait until next chapter.**

**cfox: I agree, pairings can take a lot away from a story. I would prefer a best friend to a romantic partner any day.**

**chrin: FRANTIC DISEMBOWELMENT!... No, I'll think of something to do to Orochimaru.**


	10. Strike

**(Hides) Please don't unnecessarily kill me. I had a problem. It usually goes by the name of **_**homework**_**… I finally got some time out. Guess who has more exams in three weeks time?**

**I apologize for misspellings of Tsukuyomi. I'm too lazy- **_**busy**_** to go fix them. I wasn't sure how it was spelt before. One translation was Tsukiyomi, another Tsukuyomi… But now I think Tsukuyomi is correct. **

**Sorry if you find the chapter a bit meh. I wrote most of it from scratch, I really need a draft to write properly.**

**Chapter 10- **Strike

To my surprise, Orochimaru allowed the flames to connect with his face. I smelt the foul odour of burning human flesh as the top layer of his face melted away. Underneath was the appearance I had grown accustom to relating with Orochimaru.

This meant the chakra around the edge of his face had acted as glue to stick another's face over his own. Judging from his forehead protector of choice, it had been taken from a Grass nin.

"I would say that your eyes have more potential than Itachi's. So I will leave you with a parting gift. That is, until we meet again." Orochimaru spoke to my brother before extending his neck towards him in a flash.

From his little speech I had guessed that he wasn't going to kill my brother. But whatever his intentions were, they couldn't possibly bode well for either of us.

I had to move now.

I unsheathed my katana while still in midair. It was foolish to go into battle without moving your weapon first, but I had to hurry. I had a feeling that I couldn't let Orochimaru's blow land, no matter what.

I slashed downwards, hoping to decapitate him. I doubted things would be that easy and I was proved right a moment later.

Orochimaru's neck veered out of the way, but not before I could cause a small amount of damage. I saw blood drip from the wound on his neck, but I hadn't even managed to hit an artery.

I took my chance and leapt backwards, standing in front of my brother in a guard stance. He was safe… for now.

"Itachi? I wasn't expecting to see you here…" Orochimaru commented as he placed a hand over his wound.

"Niisan?" Sasuke asked. As was expected, he was a little perplexed at my sudden appearance.

Sakura on the other hand, seemed to be panicking. "What's going on?" she asked no one in particular.

"Yeah!" Naruto's loud voice suddenly agreed as he returned from where ever he'd been blown off to.

I lowered my stance to get closer to my brother. "Sasuke." I muttered. "Take them away from here. I will deal with Orochimaru. I will meet up with you later and use a genjutsu on them to make them forget everything they've seen. Now hurry."

He nodded in response and beckoned for his teammates to follow him.

As they left I stepped up to the Mangekyo Sharingan. I waited for the opportunity to use Tsukuyomi on Orochimaru. I knew it wouldn't be easy to catch him. Apparently he already knew a fair bit about the Sharingan...

He hastily made a few more hand seals. It was similar to a summoning yet… Something was off. He seemed to be _reducing_ the jutsu in some way.

My curiosity was soon answered as a many-headed thing appeared. It was very snake-like, something you would expect from Orochimaru. In all of the commotion, I had already made two other kagebunshin.

One was hiding, as was I, and the other was out in the open where I had been standing only moments ago.

The bunshin that was out in the open leapt up to cut one of the creature's heads off. The creature was no match for my agility, so it wasn't long before a thud was heard as one of the its heads thudded to the ground.

From my own position I noticed that the head was already beginning to grow back. Perhaps the creature was using Orochimaru's chakra to regenerate?

My first assumption had been incorrect. Two heads were growing where there had previously been one. This seemed very familiar. It was like the Hydra from Ancient Greek Mythology.

I remembered my mother telling me the story of Hercules. I remembered, he had used fire to prevent the re-growth of heads. I may as well try it myself…

I had the exposed clone cut off both of the new heads. Next, I had my hidden clone perform a fireball jutsu on the raw wound.

No new heads appeared to be re-growing. But before I could finish the Hydra, I noted that Orochimaru's chakra signature had disappeared from the vicinity.

Soon afterwards, the Hydra disappeared too. My shadow clones dispersed, I couldn't use them for long periods of time.

I had no time to deliberate; there was a great possibility that he might be going after Sasuke again.

I hastily scanned my surroundings, searching for my brother's chakra signature. But instead I had found Orochimaru's again. I ran after it, hoping to erase it… permanently.

I confronted him yet again. He looked exhausted, that technique appeared to have been rather taxing on his chakra. Then again, he could be faking, getting me to underestimate him yet again…

I dashed forwards, obviously going to stab his gut with my katana. He stupidly looked up in surprise, probably because my attack was so simple.

It was all too easy from there. I caught him and transported his mind to the world of my Tsukuyomi. This sensation was odd, I knew nothing was happening to my physical body, no time was passing. But in my mind, it was a completely different story.

The colours inverted and Orochimaru appeared on the crucifix. He actually looked afraid… and so he should.

"Oh please, that was too easy." I muttered as I fingered my blade. "Tell me, what were you going to do to my brother?"

"To put it simply, I was going to bind him through a curse seal." He responded. He probably thought that if he talked enough, my chakra would be used and I would be forced to stop the technique. He was greatly mistaken; I had _days _to torture him.

"For what purpose?" I responded.

"So that he would seek _me_!" He retorted, eyes glinting.

"What would possess him to do such a thing?" I asked, my outside appearance remaining neutral, despite my arising trepidation.

"The need to 'save his niisan'." He left off. An air of victory surrounded him.

I felt… enraged, to say the least. How could he mess with my brother like that? He's just a kid… But he wasn't really. I had been in the ANBU at his age.

Then again, age didn't mean all that much when it came to maturity.

But I wasn't going to let Orochimaru see the rage that was welling up. I knew from experience that indifference was a sure way to make someone else feel disconcerted.

"So, you want his eyes? …By the end of this you will wish you never had any means of seeing." I made a few dozen more of me appear, swords drawn. "For the next forty-eight hours you will repeatedly have your organs cut out and sliced up before your eyes. Your nervous system will still be one, so you will feel every bit of pain possible." I dictated in a monotone.

To me, I simply returned to my body, remembering that no time had passed at all. Orochimaru would have had a completely different experience.

Unfortunately he still managed to get away by using a teleportation jutsu as soon as he was released. There wasn't much I could do to stop him.

Once again I searched for Sasuke's chakra signature. This time I found it and quickly headed in his direction.

**Sorry, no updates for awhile. The homework is coming AHHH!**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**anotamous: Maybe one day he will...**

**HinaWeasel: ... I can put my leg back on myself thank you. snatches it back Hehe...**

**yo: Ohhhhh! Well... I need Orochimaru to be alive for awhile. He's a main complication. I liked my Tsukuyomi better. I can't see a guy doing that to another guy for some reason.**

**cfox: The lack of curse seal was one of the changes I mentioned earlier. **

**iwalkinthelight: No pairings, zip, nil...**


	11. Recuperation and New Threats

**Damn writer's block… Curse exams… I managed to write this chapter somehow.**

**Chapter 11- **Recuperation and New Threats

I soon arrived at the place my brother and his teammates had stopped at. I came to a halt, once again in a nearby tree.

A wave of tiredness and queasiness suddenly hit me. It was the after effects of using the Tsukuyomi of course. If I had have used it for anymore than forty-eight hours I would probably be in no state to stay in this dangerous forest.

I leant against the tree trunk slightly to try and conserve as much energy as possible in case something or someone else decided to attack. Not to mention I still had to wipe both Naruto and Sakura's memories yet.

I turned my full attention to the three in the clearing. "Why won't you answer me?" I heard Sakura demand loudly.

Why not attract every enemy in the vicinity? "Why did you call him 'niisan'? Didn't your brother kill your clan?"

There was no response to Sakura's insistent questioning. I dropped to the forest floor and into their line of sight. Sasuke didn't need to put up with such an interrogation right now.

They may not remember it later, but he certainly would.

I nodded in an assuring way in Sasuke's direction before meeting Sakura's eyes. It was a delicate process to remove the right amount of memory from someone, but my clan had pressured me to master it at a young age.

I simply had to use the right amount of pressure on the correct nerves. Half an hour was a common amount of time to erase so it was simple for me to perform this task, especially with the aid of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Sakura fell forwards. She would be out for at least half an hour. I repeated the process on Naruto.

Finally, Sasuke and I would be alone for awhile. I would also have time to recover, if only a little. I could feel that my chakra resources had been severely depleted.

I closed my now stinging eyes halfway. "Niisan? Are you ok?" Sasuke asked, obviously concerned.

"Not really…" I muttered as I slowly sank to my knees. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that I could see nothing but complete blackness. I thought my vision had gone already, but it was only a brief moment before my normal vision returned.

A warning of what was to come perhaps…

Sasuke sat down next to me, putting a hand on my back. "You need to rest niisan." He stated simply. I felt a pressure rise on my back as though he was trying to get me to lie down right then and there.

I looked at him and firmly said, "No, I can't here. If I lie down I might not be able to get back up for some time. They will only be out for half an hour at the most."

"It's that bad?" Sasuke asked in a questioning tone. He looked worried, and so he should.

"Do you have any soldier or food pills?" I questioned in response.

"Yeah, of course." He replied as he took out a scroll. "You can't rely on these too heavily. Kakuzu sensei has proof that they can be harmful if used excessively." Sasuke lectured as he handed me a small brown spherical object. It was roughly the same size as my other medication.

"It's not like I have all that long left…" I muttered before swallowing it.

"Don't say things like that…" Sasuke said quietly as he pulled a displeased face.

"I apologize… I will be nearby if Orochimaru or any of his minions decide to attack again. Or if you need anything else." I added before leaving the clearing.

From my position at the base of a nearby tree, I could still see Sasuke and his two briefly incapacitated teammates.

* * *

I suddenly jolted awake. When had I fallen asleep, or rather, passed out? It didn't matter now. Sasuke and his teammates were being attacked.

It was early in the morning. I felt surprisingly refreshed and clear minded. I hadn't rested so deeply in… years. I was sharp and alert, not to mention my chakra levels had returned to normal.

But ironically enough, despite my state, I couldn't fight. I could sense these ninja were only a bit higher than the average genin level. Interfering in this battle wouldn't help Sasuke develop his skills. I had to let him fight his own battles…

Not to mention, I would have to erase Naruto and Sakura's memories again if I were to show myself. I could only use that technique so many times before I caused serious, even permanent damage to their minds.

I shuffled slightly to the right so I would have a better view of the clearing. The first thing I noticed was that these genin were Sound shinobi.

They had an ordinary amount of chakra and power, but there had to be something special about them if they were apart of Orochimaru's village.

"Get out of the way you stupid girl, we want to fight Sasuke!" I heard a menacing male voice order.

"Why?" I heard her demand in return. I could see her standing slightly in front of Naruto and Sasuke. Here I was thinking she would be the type to sit around and be protected. Maybe she was scared and confused about the blank in her memory…

I used the genjutsu technique that I had used to contact Sasuke during the written exam again. "This is another genjutsu." I hastily explained. "Don't acknowledge me at all, just listen." I added.

He cocked his head to the side slightly. He was listening.

"Do you think you can fight on an equal plane with these people? Remember, they are subordinates of Orochimaru." I fooled his brain into thinking it heard me.

I saw him shrug very slightly.

"I'll let you try them. If they turn out to have powerful abilities then you'll have to subtly knock out Naruto and Sakura so I can enter the fight without creating more suspicious circumstances." I added before making the genjutsu dissipate.

From my hidden position I saw him nod very slightly.

**That's all for another week or so. I need to get down to some serious study! I also need to make my Itachi cosplay… Yay for Wai con!**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**cfox: I wish I had a break after my exams, but for some reason they're being held mid-term. So I have to be at school for another five weeks after them... Thank you anyway.**

**yo: Yeah, thanks for reiterating yourself by the way.**

**anotamous: Actually, I believe Itachi can choose the amount of time the Tsukuyomi lasts. After all, he only used it on Sasuke for 24 or something remember?**

**iwalkinthelight: Yeah this whole site is changing. It's so much prettier now... Glad you enjoyed the previous chapter.**

**HinaWeasel: What makes you think I'm a guy? Chainsaw? Why I'll just have throw this smelly thing at you! Oh wait... That's bread... Also, could you please tone down on the ^^? It's freaking me out...**


	12. The Sound Genin

**Yay exams are over… but I didn't do well on my maths at all… I did pass though. But I am really pissed off at the moment, just don't mention motivational speakers to me for awhile. Stupid (string of Hidan worthy profanities go here). Anyway, on with the next chapter which I have **_**finally**_** completed!**

**Chapter 12- **The Sound Genin

I saw Sasuke push Sakura lightly so she would move out of the way. Next he formed some familiar hand seals. Of course, he was going to use the fireball jutsu yet again. I would have to teach him a new technique soon. That one was becoming too well known and very predictable.

I focused on his intended target with the Sharingan. This attack would reveal important facts about the boy's abilities and level of skill.

The girl in their group was obviously quite perceptive because she warned the targeted boy of Sasuke's intent to attack him by yelling "Zaku!"

In response to her warning I saw a cloud of chakra reach out and protect the one who had been addressed as Zaku. The source of this oddity was Zaku's palms. It was odd indeed; the chakra in question seemed to be… vibrating?

As a result the fiery attack didn't even get close enough to him to have a chance to do damage. This questionable barrier was surprisingly effective.

At this stage in the battle, personally I would attempt to attack this Zaku's palms next. But it was not I who was fighting.

I heard the Sound shinobi laugh at the shocked look on Sasuke's and his teammates' faces.

The next addition to the battle was a blur of chakra, which landed a strike on the other boy in the Sound group before coming to a halt in front of Sakura, revealing himself to be Rock Lee.

This appearance was followed by his lengthy self-introduction speech, which in turn was awfully similar to Gai's.

Afterwards he spoke in a quieter voice. "I will protect you Sakura san." He promised as he released a squirrel onto the forest floor. I briefly wondered what the story behind that was until Lee spoke again. "If ninjutsu won't work, then perhaps taijutsu will."

He instantaneously leaped back into the fray he'd just created. Once again he attacked the other male member of the Sound group.

I was quick to notice when he faltered almost a moment later. I wondered why as I replayed the last part of the brief confrontation in my head.

The unnamed male Sound nin had tried to punch Lee in the head, but he had missed. Somehow, despite this, damage had still been done.

It must have had something to do with that odd wave of chakra, which strongly resembled Zaku's. Now I knew it could be used for inflicting damage to others and for defending one's self.

Lee staggered backwards and landed ungracefully on his buttocks at Sakura's feet. He was clutching at his ear and appeared to be in quite a lot of pain.

Ear, vibrations, Village of Sound… Could they actually be manipulating sound as their weapon, just as I manipulated fire?

My attention was once again focused on Sasuke when he demanded, quite loudly, what it was they had done to Lee.

To my surprise they gave a long detailed answer entailing exactly what they had done to Lee. My theory that they had been manipulating sound was confirmed when they explained how they had knocked Lee off balance by damaging his inner ear.

All of this explaining was of course quite foolish. Now Sasuke would be able to heal Lee with little to no trouble. The Sound shinobi were obviously very overconfident if they were going to explain their most effective abilities.

It was now apparent that taijutsu would be ineffective, as would many forms of ninjutsu. Shadow clones and elemental jutsu would definitely not work, although lightening could, but Sasuke's abilities have yet to be developed properly in that area.

It appeared that genjutsu was the only other option. I could actually put this into practice from my hidden position.

Despite my earlier resolution to not interfere with this battle, I couldn't let my little brother face Orochimaru's lackeys all by himself.

It was true that I wanted him to get more experience with battling, but this was no place to be beaten half to death by your opponent. It would be very dangerous…

I initiated the genjutsu. Of course, working with multiple targets was always difficult, but I had to make them all see and hear different things. This would effectively destroy any chance of teamwork. Communication was a fundamental building block of success. **(Goddammit I even sound like the motivational speaker!)**

Unfortunately my plan did not turn out to be as successful as I had hoped it would. The girl in the Sound group happened to be a specialist in the field of genjutsu as well.

When I didn't use my eyes, a skilled enough ninja could, unfortunately, still escape from my genjutsu. She had done just that and was now attempting to awaken her teammates as well.

Sasuke knew exactly what was happening so he got in the girl's way so she couldn't inject her chakra into her teammates and return them to their senses.

Thanks to my genjutsu, her teammates were blissfully unaware of what was taking place around them. They were currently engaged in battle with Naruto and Sasuke, at least in their heads.

This girl certainly was no fool, unfortunately. Her next act was to take Sakura hostage by gripping her pink hair in one hand and a kunai to the throat with the other.

She easily got away with this action because Lee was currently incapacitated and Naruto was too slow to stop her in time.

"Release them from the genjutsu or your teammate will get it!" She directed towards Sasuke as she put the knife closer to Sakura's throat.

But rather than looking scared, Sakura looked… determined. She pulled a kunai of her own out. "Don't try and resist! I'll just kill you and take him hostage instead!" The Sound kunoichi proclaimed in a panicky voice as she indicated Lee by tilting her kunai slightly in his direction.

Sakura didn't say a word but instead speedily raised the kunai and forced the Sound girl to release her by cutting off her own hair. It was then easy for her to dodge around the kunai and dash away.

The Sound shinobi went to turn on Lee but Naruto was prepared this time. He had five kagebunshin and himself protecting Lee already. I was surprised by his stamina; he was able to maintain so many at a time… It was highly unusual.

The Sound girl froze, realizing that she was running out of options.

"Now, if you hand over your scroll and leave with your teammates immediately, I will release the genjutsu as soon as we can no longer sense your chakra signature. Either that or be stuck here fighting us… alone." Sasuke spoke, taking advantage of the fact she thought he was the source of the genjutsu. That was definitely cheating…

I made the genjtsu induced vision of battle lead her two male teammates out of the clearing and into denser forest. The Sound girl didn't hesitate and threw her scroll to the ground before she followed them into the denser forest. She was probably glad to escape with her life.

A few seconds later a look of relief crossed my brother's face. He moved towards Lee, who was still clutching his ear. They must have done some serious damage.

Knowing I would take care of the genjutsu, Sasuke knelt down before Lee and offered to heal him. "You can do such a thing? You are skilled indeed Sasuke kun…" Lee praised, somewhat half-heartedly.

"Sure, let me have a look." Sasuke said quietly. Lee offered the side of his head up for inspection keenly. "Why didn't you use ninjutsu to fight them? It would have been safer than leaping in with taijutsu." Sasuke stated as his hand began to glow green. The healing process had begun.

"I cannot actually mould chakra very well… I cannot do basic ninjutsu if I wanted to." Lee replied quietly. He seemed to be somewhat embarrassed

"Sakura? What happened?" A very loud and worried Ino yelled as she ran from behind the bushes. Choji came too, followed by a very unwilling Shikamaru.

Naruto meanwhile had excitedly picked up the scroll, but soon deflated. It must have been the wrong one. By now I had figured out they were participating in a scroll battle. It was free for all by the look of things.

Ino was fussing over Sakura's hair while Choji and Shikamaru were discussing how annoying Ino could be.

But as all of this was happening, I sensed two more chakra signatures approaching the clearing. I could tell that one of them was a Byakugan user, I just wondered whether they'd seen me yet.

I would have to hide underground and hope that he or she wouldn't check there. I covered my chakra signature as well as I could, I even deactivated my Sharingan to do so.

I could still hear voices above and I was yet to hear a cry of discovery.

"Is that better now?" I heard Sasuke ask. "Can you balance properly?"

"Yes, thank you." Lee replied gratefully.

"Yeah… Thanks for helping our teammate. We will be sure to repay you somehow." An unknown male voice spoke.

"Neji! TenTen!" I heard Lee's excited voice. They must have only just decided to reveal themselves… Neji? Hyuuga Neji? Yes, I had heard that name before; he was a part of the branch family.

I made my breaths shallower and stayed as still as possible. Hopefully he would leave soon…

**I must leave off there for now. I'll be back when I think of some more ideas… Oh, in a couple of chapters I'm thinking of introducing Deidara. The manga is non-specific when it comes to when he was recruited so I thought I would include him in the gap in between the prelims and the third exam.**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**cfox: Eh? How old are you then?(If you don't mind me asking.) Hope this chapter satisfied you.**

**iwalkinthelight: I don't get it either but that's how Itachi is portrayed in the manga, at least to me anyway. I guess so much energy is focused on Sasuke he forgets to focus on everything else around him. My own beliefs of not getting attatched strongly to anyone conflict this strongly so I'm doing my best with Itachi's character.**


	13. To The Tower

**Yes! Only three days of this school year left! Then a nice long six week holiday before I get swamped by homework and this probably will go on hiatus... So enjoy whatever updates you get in the next seven weeks, ok? Even if this chapter is pretty crappy...**

**Chapter 13-** To the Tower

"What kind of scroll is it that you have?" I heard the Hyuuga question.

"Two of the Heaven type, why?" Sakura's voice responded. The longer the Hyuuga stayed, the more likely it was that I would be found. Hopefully this would be sorted out quickly…

"I propose a swap. We have two Earth scrolls, you see…" The Hyuuga boy spoke again.

"Yes, we will trade you one Heaven scroll for an Earth scroll." Sasuke responded quickly. I assumed that they swapped scrolls during the following silence.

"Come on Lee, we had better go now." Neji eventually broke the silence.

"Yosh! Thank you so much, this makes everything much easier for all of us! Sakura san, the next time you see me I will be a stronger man!" Lee exclaimed, enthusiastic as usual.

The last I heard of them was their feet pushing off the ground as they left the clearing. I felt a little more secure now the Hyuuga had moved on, even though he could still see me if he chose to look back at the clearing.

The next voice I heard was that of Yamanaka Ino. "I guess we'll see you later on in the exam. See you Sakura, Sasuke… _Naruto_." She somewhat reluctantly added.

I heard her group leave the clearing as well. I allowed myself to relax a little. Only Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura remained.

"We'll make the code the same as before." Sasuke suddenly announced. "I need to… uh… excrete." He mumbled the remainder of his words and began heading towards me. I moved from underground and waited for him at ground level, hidden at the base of a tree.

It didn't take Sasuke long to spot me. "Niisan." He whispered as he sat next to me. "Don't you think that was cheating back there?"

"Back where?" I asked innocently as I leant against the tree.

He rolled his eyes at my response but smiled anyway. "In the end they were still too much for us. I must work harder…" he muttered. Suddenly that smile had disappeared. He leant his head into my chest, effectively hiding his face from my view.

I used a finger to tilt his chin up so I could look him in the eye. I placed my other hand on his shoulder before speaking. "Don't wear yourself out Sasuke. Just… You'd better head to the tower now." I finished, not sure how to put what I had wanted to say into words.

He averted his gaze, obviously still feeling ashamed of the level of his own abilities. I leant over him slightly and whispered in his ear. "Your healing skills were most impressive…"

I returned to my normal seated position, not taking my eyes off of him.

"Really?" he asked as his head snapped up and he met my gaze.

"Of course." I replied, slightly shocked by his sudden reaction.

My brother positively beamed in response to my words. The reason that I could awaken such strong emotions in my brother with such a simple phrase eluded me. To lift his mood I would simply have to say the right words…

Sasuke gripped my upper arm briefly before heading back to his temporary teammates. I heard him recite the code to his now more alert team. Hopefully this meant they would run into a lot less trouble.

"We'd better hurry and get to the tower. We can't get attacked now…" My brother added. There was a nod of agreement from both Naruto and Sakura before they traveled further into the forest.

* * *

I was quite surprised that we hadn't been attacked again. After those two rather eventful days I was sure that someone would have targeted us. But we all reached the tower in one piece.

As Sasuke and his teammates entered the tower I slipped past them using a genjutsu to disguise all traces of my presence. I made my way to the corner of the surprisingly large room and only then allowed myself to be seen.

I was relieved that I didn't have to hide anymore. But I had been subject to worse in the ANBU. I had had to stay hidden for maddening amounts of time…

"So…" Naruto began, "What are we supposed to do now?"

Sasuke looked at me over his shoulder as Sakura moved forwards to inspect a piece of paper that was tacked to the wall in front of her.

She read the words, which had been written there out loud, probably for Naruto's benefit. I instantly recognized it as the chuunin motto. But there were words missing. These were of course Earth and Heaven.

It wasn't a coincidence that the scrolls had been named as such. This exam was a symbol of achieving both. Now they would have to make the symbolism into a reality in order to achieve the rank of chuunin.

I noticed that Naruto and Sakura were debating about whether to open the scrolls now. Sasuke looked over his shoulder at me again, question in his features.

I nodded slightly in response before I could stop myself. I had to stop helping him like this, otherwise he would never learn anything.

He turned back to Sakura and Naruto and encouraged them to open the scrolls. Once they had done that, a summoning occured and of all people, Iruka appeared.

He smiled and began to explain the chuunin motto to my brother, Naruto and Sakura.

**Yes, I'm still suffering from writer's block... Yay, 99 reviews! Also I'm starting to re-write Alternate History, so a few comments on the new first chapter would be awesome.**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**cfox- I don't know what it is, but someone who's much older than me finding my story believeable just makes me feel special. Thanks.**

**HinaWeasel- Thanks for the kind words but you can't send links via reviews. (Eyes gleam) maybe I should write a whole new part to this story focused entirely on Sasuke's POV? (slaps self) NO! Thanks for the suggestion but it would seem a bit strange if I started adding Sasuke's POV now. Maybe in the re-write...**

**iwalkinthelight- Well, I dunno about this gold medal because there is no Thanksgiving here and my break doesn't start for about a week. Thanks anyway, and yes, Deidara yay. Sayounara :D (But it's in romaji so there isn't really a correct spelling. If only my computer could type in hiragana...)**


	14. Unexpected Choices

**Uh… I just realized that I never made Itachi change back into his Jonin disguise. Let's say he used a genjutsu to disguise himself whilst Iruka was there and then actually changed clothes later on. Plausible?**

**Chapter 14-** Unexpected Choices

There had still been two days of the exam left when Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto had arrived at the tower. After the hectic pace of the second exam, they had used this time for a much-needed rest.

I, on the other hand, had been watching the arriving genin through the surveillance cameras. It was odd that something so 'high-tech' could be found out here. I did wonder how they managed to power them…

I was more than happy to leave the surveillance room at the end of the two days. I had practically been living in that small, musty room. But I had learnt a fair bit about the last part of the chuunin exam, mostly via eavesdropping.

The second exam had officially ended, so everyone had gathered in a vast room on the second floor to be addressed by the Hokage. 'Everyone' being the twenty-one genin who were standing in orderly rows located in the center of the room as well as the various chunin and jonin senseis positioned around the edge of the room.

It didn't take me long to spot Orochimaru among them. He was now in the guise of a Sound jonin. At least he hadn't taken anyone's face this time.

Even so, I couldn't attack him without revealing my own identity. I could not even alert someone to his presence. If I didn't fight him as well, it would make the Rain look bad from a political view.

But there must have been a reason for Orochimaru to reveal himself so carelessly. It must be some kind of trap… unless he was bluffing?

I left that train of thought as I gave the Hokage my full attention.

"…and because so many of you passed this exam, a preliminary round must be held immediately. Anyone who believes that they are unfit to fight a one on one battle may pull out now. Your teammates will no longer be affected by your decisions." The Sandaime paused and stared at the rows of genin before him, letting them decide.

To my surprise and relief, Sasuke spoke up. "I would like to pull out."

He earned himself a few confused and shocked looks from his fellow genin. One of the Rain genin even yelled, "Coward!"

Ignoring this remark, Sasuke retreated from the uniform lines of genin and came to stand beside me.

"Is there anybody else who would like to pull out?" The Hokage asked as he stared disapprovingly at the genin who had yelled at my brother.

The Leaf genin who had had his glasses broken at the start of the written exam by the Sound shinobi spoke up next. "I would also like to pull out." He also left the line of genin and exited the room.

There was now an uneven amount of genin. One of them would be unlucky enough to have to do battle twice.

"Alright then." A Leaf chuunin spoke when nobody else opted out. His small speech was followed by a bout of coughing. "Let me explain what is going to happen in more detail…"

"Sensei…" Sasuke muttered and looked up at me. "Can we go outside?"

I nodded towards the nearest door. It would more than likely exit onto a balcony. We inconspicuously exited the room as everybody else began to climb the stairs to the indoor balcony above us.

I was proved to be correct as we went through the door I had pointed out. Waist-high railing surrounded the outdoor balcony area. There wasn't much of a view because the trees easily grew this tall. In fact they towered above us. This meant that we were generously concealed by foliage.

From the sunlight which filtered through the dense canopy of leaves, I noted that it was about 4 p.m.

I walked across the balcony and turned back to face Sasuke as I leant against the rail. "So Sasuke, why did you pull out?" I asked.

"The longer I participate in the exam, the more chances Orochimaru has to attack me. It's too dangerous…" He replied as he followed and sat next to me on the railing.

"A good choice." I responded. I was glad that he was bright enough to realize how much danger he could have been in.

He smiled slightly, but still looked somewhat bothered. Before I could ask him what was wrong, I felt a sensation I hadn't experienced for a long time. Leader was speaking to me in my mind.

'Itachi san, report on your mission and status.' He suddenly commanded.

'Sasuke and I have no lasting injuries to speak of and my disguise is holding up. Orochimaru is very near by and he knows that I am here. Sasuke is no longer participating in the exam, but there is another part of it to come in one month's time.' I summed up.

'Hmm… Sasori san and Kisame san are heading towards Konoha as we speak. You will meet them outside of the village tomorrow morning. Kisame san will explain the details of your mission tomorrow.' He finished, breaking the mental connection.

"We're leaving Konoha tomorrow." I briefly told my brother before retreating back into my thoughts once more.

Leader did not give the mission details to me whilst I was here in Konoha. He obviously didn't trust me not to tell anyone, that perhaps I would inform the Hokage of his plans before leaving.

This distrust could be… problematic…

**It's short, I know. But I think my writer's block is disappearing! I already have most of the next chapter drafted.**

**Anonymous Reviewer**

**HinaWeasel- Well look at that, you get this whole section to yourself! Good for you but bad for me because it means I don't have many reviews at the moment... Ah well, thanks for the link. What 'Sasuke thing' were you referring to in the review by the way?**


	15. A New Member

**Yes! Christmas is over! Hope you all had/have a good holiday season. Here's a present from me, a lengthy chapter.**

**Chapter 15- **A New Member

I awoke, instinctively keeping my eyes closed until I knew it was safe to open them. I found that Sasuke was the only person within the current vicinity. He was lying on the other futon, which was positioned next to my own.

I sat up. We had returned to the Uchiha complex once again. I climbed out of the futon and began to fold it up so it could be stored in the cupboard once again.

We had to leave Konoha today. We would meet Sasori and Kisame outside and receive instructions concerning a mission, which I knew nothing about.

I dragged the futon out of the room and into the hallway. I opened the large sliding door of the cupboard and folded it in as neatly as possible.

As I turned back to the room to wake Sasuke up, I heard him call out nervously. "Niisan?"

"Yes?" I responded as I reentered the room we had been sleeping in.

A look of relief appeared on his face before disappearing again quickly. "Morning." He said. He seemed to be a bit embarrassed about getting so worked up about my missing presence. The sooner he was out of this house, the better…

"Put your futon away. We need to leave soon." I said as I picked up the 'funeral bag'. I decided to place it on the shrine before we left.

I heard the sliding door scrape as Sasuke closed the cupboard. Time to leave. I thought this would be the very last time that I would set foot in Konoha. I doubted that I would return within the next three or four years…

* * *

Sasuke and I exited the village with no problems. It was expected that the people taking the exam would leave the village to train for the next round or return to their home villages.

When we were approximately two hundred meters away, I changed into my Akatsuki uniform and activated the Sharingan. I placed the scroll, which held my jonin disguise into an inner pocket.

It didn't take very long for me to spot Kisame's large amount of chakra and Sasori's odd circulation of it. Sasuke and I moved in their direction and soon I could see them physically as well.

"Anybody care to impart the details of this mission?" I asked. I had been dwelling upon the possible details for far too long. I still had no idea what this mission could be about.

Predictably, it was Kisame who answered me. "Well, it's nice to see you too. We're 'recruiting' another member. Sasori's finally going to get a new partner, so Leader must have some leads on the tailed beasts. Anyway, we're heading for the Earth Country, Iwa specifically. He'll more than likely be in that area."

I nodded, showing that I had understood. We would be travelling North a fair distance. But, among the present company, it would probably only take us a couple of days to get there. I hoped that they had brought enough rations for all of us because I hadn't bought any more for our supplies.

It actually took us four days to travel all the way to Iwa and another two days to track the new member down.

We discovered that he had been hiding out in an abandoned hut a few kilometers from the village. Apparently he stayed there when he wasn't taking jobs.

We were hiding out in the 'abandoned' hut, waiting for him to return. Surprisingly he did so only an hour later.

I was quite surprised by him as well. He had an effeminate appearance and build. He was young, very young. He couldn't have been any older than fifteen. But we soon discovered why Leader wanted him to join the Akatsuki.

* * *

He slid the door open. This action was followed by a brief pause. I activated my Sharingan and tensed. I gripped Sasuke's arm, ready to pull him out of the way if need be. The need did come about as four oddly shaped, chakra encased objects flew into the room through the small gap in the doorway.

I quickly dodged, dragging my little brother out of the way as well. But two of the flying objects turned unexpectedly and were once again flying towards us. I noticed that the same thing had happened to Sasori and Kisame respectively when they had attempted to dodge the objects.

These weren't ordinary projectiles, making a turn like that would make them lose velocity and be useless for effectively piercing flesh. They suddenly exploded, the force of the blast knocked me backward off of my feet.

My body had been shielding Sasuke's, but the explosion had been out of range anyway. Neither of us had been injured… yet. Another of the objects seemed to have suddenly appeared behind Sasuke. Obviously only one of the objects had exploded before.

The momentum of the previous explosion was still controlling our path of movement, so I couldn't do anything to escape this one. I dropped my brother, attempting to get him out of the way.

The explosion tore through my brother's shirt; his side was severely burnt. The skin was coloured with a harsh hue of red, indicating severe burns. I landed and quickly leapt back to his side.

I knew he could abate the pain, but he couldn't heal the actual wound yet. He didn't have the knowledge to do so. I would end this quickly so that I could get him to a doctor as soon as possible.

I turned to the blonde boy who had by now entered the hut. "Who are you and what are you doing here, yeah?" He asked when he realized, with some surprise, that we were all still alive.

"It's your lucky day," Kisame said sarcastically, "We've come to recruit you to the Akatsuki. So why don't you just come along quietly, Deidara san?"

The boy, Deidara, narrowed his eyes suspiciously in response to the information. "Why should I…?" he trailed off as he looked around at us one by one. The rest of the question could have been anything from 'why should I go quietly', to 'why should I be recruited by you'.

As soon as his eyes met mine, I had him under a powerful genjutsu. "If you're going to be like that, let's try this a different way. If I beat you, you must join us." I left no room for questions.

"Just try it, un!" He exclaimed as he dropped another strange object on the ground. He was overconfident, dangerously so.

The thing was enlarged and it soon became clear that it was meant to be a centipede. Undoubtedly it was also explosive. I fooled his senses, letting him think the centipede had wrapped itself around me.

But in reality, it had wrapped around him. The look in his eye could be called triumphant, but I found its intensity rather worrisome. Like most Missing nin, he had some sort of mental defect.

I couldn't kill him, despite what my instincts were telling me. Leader would have my head. "Wait." I intoned before Deidara caused the centipede to explode.

I lifted the genjutsu, allowing him to see how close he'd come to killing himself. His visible eye widened in realization. "Woah, that was close." Kisame said.

"What? When did you-?" Deidara began.

I interrupted his confused babbling with my own words. "The moment you looked into my eyes. Perhaps you'll be less reckless in the future. I'm sure Leader would prefer it if you lasted for more than five minutes."

"Don't count on that." Sasori interjected. "He's the type to get killed quickly." He said, adding insult to injury.

Deidara chewed on his bottom lip as a brief flash of emotion alighted in his eye. He knew that he was now a part of the Akatsuki whether he liked it or not.

"We must hurry and find a medical specialist, my brother…" I muttered, glancing at Sasuke. "How serious are his burns?" I demanded of Deidara.

He sighed, obviously still annoyed about his current situation. "You're lucky he didn't loose any flesh, yeah. This should help with the stinging, but blisters could still form if it isn't treated properly… un." He spoke as he produced a small jar containing some kind of ointment.

I glared, letting my distrust be known. But I didn't really have a choice. Sasuke's chakra wouldn't last forever. I nodded, "You should probably be the one to help him then. You obviously have experience in these matters." I said, watching his every move.

"Hm, there's a medical expert in Iwa at the moment. She's pretty famous, so she'll be able to treat him properly, yeah."

"Can you take us to her?" I asked as he rubbed copious amounts of the ointment on Sasuke's wound. He flinched whenever Deidara touched his wound, but he knew it was necessary and didn't complain.

Deidara snorted, "No, I can't go into Iwa." He said, unnecessarily pointing out his headband. The symbol of Iwa was quite clearly scratched, just like my own.

"You know what a henge is, don't you?" I replied scathingly. I needed him to take me to her. If the burn blistered, it would be unbearably painful and lasting damage would more than likely occur.

"I don't want to take the risk, yeah" He replied. "I hide here because it's the last place they'd look, right outside their own village, yeah. But she won't be hard to find. Go ask around at the gambling places..."

**Hmm, I wonder who the medic could be…**

**Anonymous Reviewers**

**iwalkinthelight- Yes, next year I'll have so much homework it isn't funny, not to mention the year after! Also, if you don't want to lose all the stories you like, I suggest you write down the author's permanent URL. Then the amount of stories you have to search through is narrowed down if you know who wrote it. Thanks for your positive reviews!**

**cfox- Oh you know, I'm just full of surprises... More "what a twist!" moments to come. Or maybe they'll just be seen as "wtf?" Oh well, thanks for the review.**


	16. Sannin?

**There are a lot of people who don't seem to like me choosing to pull Sasuke out of the Chuunin Exams… I'll just ask you to please give my version of the plot line a chance. I plan on writing this story right into the 'Itachi Appears' and 'Finding Tsunade' arcs.**

**Also, there is an experimental section in here written from Sasuke's point of view. Please tell me what you think of it, I may include more.**

**Chapter 16- **Sannin?

Sasuke's weight was still perched on my back. That Deidara… this woman wasn't easy to find at all. But I finally had a decent lead. I glanced at the photograph a drunken man had given me earlier. The photograph was a portrait of a woman who appeared to be in her mid twenties. She had blond hair, which was tied into two low pigtails, and she had strangely coloured eyes.

I looked across the room at the woman who was sitting at a slot machine with her back to me. I saw loosely tied blond pigtails and 'princess' written on the back of her green jacket. It had to be her.

I made my way through the crowded room. I was in my jonin disguise again, minus the jacket and forehead protector this time. I was carrying a wincing Sasuke on my back, who was wearing the yuukata top that I usually wore under my Akatsuki coat. This hid his injuries and his own tattered shirt.

The blonde woman who was sitting at a slot machine was muttering about her bad luck. Despite this she put more change into the machine and spun the reels again. The next numbers that came up were three sevens.

The machine emptied a heap of change. Obviously she had hit the jackpot. "Looks like your luck is turning, Miss…?" I said, announcing my presence.

She glanced at me briefly, distrust evident on her features. "SHIZUNEEE!" She suddenly yelled.

I turned to look over my shoulder and saw a dark haired woman come running, pushing her way through the crowd. In her arms she held a small pig. She too glanced at me with distrust before addressing the blonde woman. "Yes Tsunade sama?"

Tsunade pointed at the reels. Shizune gasped. "Yes, something bad is going to happen! I think it's something to do with you!" Tsunade said loudly and began glaring at me again.

"Probably." I replied unfazed. I was not one for superstition. "This kid has been injured." I added, gesturing towards Sasuke with my head. "I heard that you're quite the medic nin. Could you help him?"

Tsunade seemed to ponder for awhile before answering. "Let's go somewhere a bit quieter. I have a room booked in the hotel across the road." She explained as she began to push her way through the crowd.

Shizune stayed to collect up Tsunade's winnings, so I followed after Tsunade herself. Outside on the street it was completely deserted. It was a stark contrast to the gambling parlour.

Tsunade entered another building, heels clicking on the wooden floorboards. I followed her through the small lobby and up the stairs. The receptionist didn't look up when we passed her. When we reached the second floor, Tsunade entered room number eight.

"Sit him on the bed." She ordered authoritatively. I did so, trying to cause Sasuke as little pain as possible. "So, what's wrong with him?" She asked as she moved closer to scrutinize him.

Sasuke shrugged off his yuukata top, revealing his burn. Tsunade extended a chakra-encased hand. I couldn't be sure of her intentions because I couldn't use the Sharingan here.

"I'll get out of your way." I said as I moved towards the doorway. Perhaps if I was out of her line of sight I could use it…

"Go find Shizune won't you? She'll probably need a hand carrying something." She replied, leaving no room for dispute. This woman had obviously been in a position of power at some stage.

I left rather reluctantly, closing the door behind me.

* * *

I watched Niisan leave the room. I felt a bit nervous being left alone with this stranger. I could easily tell that she was a really skilled medic nin from the way she used her chakra. She was very efficient and seemed to know exactly what she was doing. The wound was almost completely healed already.

"Now then," she began when she had finished healing my burn, "little Uchiha." She added as she handed me Niisan's shirt. I froze. Had she recognized my brother as well?

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that was your brother. According to Jiraiya he's a part of the Akatsuki these days. So, how do you fit into all of this?" Tsunade said.

Jiraiya, Tsunade… It couldn't be a coincidence. Tsunade must be one of the sannin, a long with Orochimaru.

I knew that I couldn't fight her and escape, so I would have to dodge her questions until Niisan returned.

"So, you're the sannin, Tsunade? That explains why you're so good at healing." I replied, dodging the topic.

"Indeed, but that doesn't answer my question." She responded, trying and failing to be patient.

"Yes, that was my brother, Uchiha Itachi. But he has a terminal disease, which has no known cure. Maybe someone as skilled as yourself could create one?" I asked optimistically. Even if I had to trade information for her help…

"But… your brother killed your clan. Why would you want to save him?" She asked, rightfully confused.

"He didn't have a choice in killing them... The elders gave the order." I muttered. I quietly explained what had happened. Everything from my clan's plan to usurp the Hokage to my brother's inability to harm me. My brother would probably scold me when he found out. But I couldn't just leave him to die...

"I see…" She muttered thoughtfully.

"So, will you help him?" I asked, hoping she would say yes.

She stayed silent before finally speaking. "I'll see what I can do… _But,_" she added when she saw me smiling, "it's going to cost you." She had a glint in her eye that I didn't like the look of… Despite that, I asked another question.

"Do you know much about rehabilitation, specifically for those who've become blind?" I couldn't be sure if she had heard me because the door scraping open covered most of my question. We both turned to see who had entered the room.

* * *

I found Shizune in the lobby of the hotel trying to juggle a large, heavy case that probably contained money, two bags and the pig. "Do you need a hand?" I asked, hoping to return to my brother as soon as possible.

She looked at the things she was trying to carry contemplatively. Obviously she didn't trust me with the money, so she handed me the pig. It snorted and promptly bit me.

I raised an eyebrow and smacked it on the nose. It whimpered pathetically before releasing my arm.

"Oh, Ton Ton doesn't like strangers." Shizune explained before laughing falsely and heading for the stairs. I wondered about her odd behaviour as I followed her.

The stairs weren't very steep and there weren't very many of them, but Shizune somehow managed to take about ten minutes to get up them. This was mostly because of the large case and Shizune refusing my offers of help. The longer she took, the more suspicious I became of her actions. Was she purposely trying to keep me from my brother as long as possible?

Eventually we stopped before the door to Tsunade's hotel room. I heard Tsunade say, "But it's going to cost you." Before Shizune noisily and, once again slowly, opened the door.

I put the pig down on the floor. It immediately ran to Tsunade and jumped into her arms. She and Sasuke were still sitting on the futon.

"What happened to your arm?" Tsunade asked. I could tell that she already knew from her barely concealed smirk.

"The pig… bit me." I said in a monotone, hoping the animal wasn't carrying some sort of disease. Tsunade seemed to be finding it harder to conceal her smirk.

She cleared her throat and adopted a serious expression before saying, "In all seriousness, I should probably give you a check up just in case Ton Ton does have 'something to pass on'."

**If you're wondering about the Itachi-Ton Ton hate, it's based on Ultimate Ninja 3. Ton Ton's attack owns Itachi. Every time.**

**Anonymous Reviewers**

**yo- I agree, last chapter wasn't exactly my best. I'm just trying to get my ideas down before I lose them I guess. Thanks.**

**Anonymous Reader- I'm glad you appreciate that I have strayed from the canon plot, not many others seem to... Oh and I watched the first episode of red vs. blue. Very funny :)**

**a fan- You get a gold star! The last part of your review was spot on. The reason I wrote this fic was to see how Sasuke _could_ have turned out because I hate him in the manga/anime.**

**HinaWeasel- Hmm, I think this chapter answers your review?**


	17. Ridiculously Expensive Doctor's Fees

**Internet… died… But is now working! I think…**

**Chapter 17-** Ridiculously Expensive Doctor's Fees

It appeared that the pig had not given me a horrible disease. But, Tsunade did diagnose my terminal disease. Further, she said that she could find a cure if I could pay. But there was no point in finding a cure because I would be blind soon. She insisted that I could still be an effective shinobi, even if I was to become blind.

I hadn't said anything in response; I didn't know how to express my disbelief. As an infamous S-class criminal, I had to be more than 'decent' to protect my brother until he was strong enough to do so himself.

"What kind of payment?" Sasuke asked quietly, much to my disbelief. He was now sitting next to me, healing the area where the pig had bitten me.

"_Well,_" she smiled. She seemed to have been expecting this question. I briefly wondered what they had been talking about in my absence. "Some of the payment will be in money, five hundred thousand ryo, and the rest in information concerning the Akatsuki."

Shizune's jaw dropped. "FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND?" She shrieked in disbelief.

"Even if I wanted the cure, I could not give you that kind of information. Things could become rather… dangerous for my brother." I replied firmly.

"A seven hundred and fifty thousand instead?" My brother offered. His hand hovered over my arm. His chakra left a tingling sensation in its wake as the bite marks began to disappear.

"I do not need to be cured. Stop pointlessly haggl-"

"Seven hundred and fifty thousand ryo and a brief description of your latest mission." Tsunade spoke loudly, drowning out my own words.

"Agreed." Sasuke spoke quickly.

"WHAT?" Shizune shrieked once again, waving her arms in an almost comical manner.

I glared at the back of his head. "Sasuke." I warned quietly. He briefly glanced at me in a defiant manner before looking away guiltily.

"The mission information now, then you can pay off the money as I progress with the cure." She said, completely ignoring me.

"Another member was recruited earlier today." Sasuke explained as he removed his hand. He had finished healing me. I couldn't believe he was being so reckless. He opened his mouth again, probably to impart more information.

I swiftly placed a hand over his mouth. I pulled him towards the door. I was more than ready to return to the others.

"I'll expect at least the first thousand the next time we meet!" Tsunade called cheerfully. "Oh, and Sasuke, try 'siphoning' your chakra rather than forcing unnecessary amounts into the cells!" I heard her add as I flicked the door so that it slid shut with a resounding crash.

Despite my obvious annoyance, I could still feel Sasuke smiling. I removed my hand from his mouth and led him by the arm instead.

* * *

I didn't let up my grip until we were approximately one kilometer from Iwa. I stopped suddenly and bent down to his level. "What are you thinking?" I asked softly.

"I'm thinking you'll live longer so I can spend more time with you!" Sasuke replied. He grabbed me around the middle and held on to me almost… desperately?

"Why are you so adamant about this? I'm a well known S-class criminal, I could easily die before then anyway." I replied as I awkwardly placed a hand on his back.

Sasuke snorted in response. "No one can kill you that easily."

"There's _always_ someone better… But that's not my point. Even if I were to go blind and accepted this cure, I could very well die the next day. Then it would all have been a waste of effort."

"No, it wouldn't have…" He muttered in return.

My brother… he really cared that much about me? If I were to commit suicide, it would just hurt him more, so much more. Of course I've known that all along, but now I was getting the impression that he would never get over it. Maybe I should just go along with what he wants…

"So, just how are you going to pay her all of that money over four years?" I muttered.

He looked up, obviously shocked. "Uh… I don't know…" he confessed.

"Well, we should get back to the others now. It's getting late, they would have expected us to be back a long time ago." I said. Sasuke nodded and we began to move again.

* * *

By the time we returned the sun had already begun to set. As in Konoha, the sun coloured everything in yellows and oranges at this time of the day. But the absence of foliage made me feel very much in the open. There were only large rocks and the occasional building to break up the landscape here.

"I take it you found her?" Kisame's familiar voice floated from the top of a particularly large boulder.

I nodded and stopped walking. "Eventually…"

"Hmm, not so easy to find after all. The other two have already left for Amegakure. Also, our target has been assigned." He explained as he jumped down from the boulder and landed right in front of me. "As predicted, it's the nine tails. The jinchuuriki is in Konoha somewhere. Of course it's been left to us to find out who it is. If any "father like son" is involved, then we'll just have to look for blond idiots." He replied, smiling.

"The fourth was hardly an idiot." I muttered. "By the time we return to Konoha, there will be about three weeks until the final part of the chunin exam." I added.

"We should take our time then. We can pretend to be officials from the Water country. Still, I'd like to leave this wasteland as soon as possible." He replied.

"I have to agree." I waited. He seemed to want to say something else.

"Uh… you don't mind if we travel along the river do you? It'll only take us a few extra days." He asked, somewhat hesitantly.

I made a shrugging motion. "I don't care, we practically have a month to get there."

He grinned. "Good, it's been a while since I was near water. Sasori wouldn't allow it of course. 'What? A whole extra day? No, you can just suffer!'" He imitated, rather poorly as he entered the hut Deidara had previously been living in. Sasuke laughed at his antics and followed.

I had been working with Kisame for almost six years now. I was used to taking strange detours to allow him to be closer to water. Aside from the extra travel time, it also had many advantages. Kisame was an expert at nature manipulation when it came to water, so an already powerful ally became even more so. Also, we never had to worry about food or conserving rations because he was apt at catching most kinds of fish.

"Is there any kind of bedding in here?" I asked as I too entered the hut.

"No. I had a look while I was waiting for you two." Kisame replied.

I nodded as I retrieved a scroll from an inner pocket. Sasuke also took one out. I didn't question why Kisame hadn't, I knew he would explain himself soon.

We set up a minimal amount of bedding whilst the next topic on my list was discussed. "What about food? How much of the rations did the others take?"

"Not a lot, after all, Deidara is the only one who needs to eat them. Here." He added as he handed me two shares of the rations. As was usual amongst the Akatsuki, the rations were suspicious looking dried meat

Sasuke groaned. "Isn't there any real food?"

"Hn, you should be glad that you have food at all. When I was your age…" I teased as I handed him his share. He childishly poked his tongue out at me before he began chewing. It usually took awhile to eat…

"I'll watch the 'base'. I probably won't be able to sleep anyway." Kisame offered. He had already finished eating. There was an advantage to having unusually sharp teeth.

"Wake me if you change your mind." I muttered in return. He nodded before going outside.

I gave up trying to eat all of my rations and lay down on my makeshift bed instead. Before drifting into a light slumber, I heard a large amount of shuffling before I felt Sasuke curl up next to me.

**Anonymous Reviewers**

**Anonymous Reader- Nrr, another year... But thanks all the same, hope you have a good one too.**

**iwalkinthelight- Wow, such a long review. Much love! I'm glad that you also appreciate the change in plot. I'm also happy that you think the characters are actually in character. I wasn't sure about Tsunade but it seems that it's ok. Hmm, what exactly do you mean by an "Akatsuki style mission"? Catching bijuu? And you're welcome, I'm happy to help.**

**HinaWeasel- Pocky? I've never had any, hell I haven't even seen it in real life before. As for UN3, I like fighting Itachi with Chouji. Or fighting Sakura with Sasuke or Kakashi, then using Sharingan and seeing the "inner Sasuke/Kakashi". Or using Sharingan on Tsunade. A man should NOT stand like that... That game is so funny!**


	18. Returning to Konoha

**EDITED, after I had a serious think about Sasuke's character. The last thing I wanted to do, but aren't you all glad that I'm so dedicated that I did so anyway? Heh, hope it's ok now. **

**Chapter 18- **Returning to Konoha

"Itachi san." I heard Kisame's voice call. I was immediately suspicious. It could have been an imposter for all I knew. I didn't even know where Kisame had been on watch. I suddenly felt someone hesitantly poke the area of my upper arm… No one was that stupid.

Even so, I opened my eyes, Sharingan blazing. "Yes?" I demanded. I could see that no form of disguising jutsu was being used. I decided that he was indeed the real thing as I sat up and deactivated the Sharingan.

"I… think we should leave soon." Kisame responded.

I looked down to my left and noticed Sasuke staring up at me. I stood and immediately began to seal all of the bedding back into the scroll. I finally changed out of my jonin disguise and back into my Akatsuki uniform. It felt odd only wearing a T-shirt underneath the coat.

Sasuke was still wearing my yuukata top, which was too large for him. He was also ready to leave. At least he had learnt how to move in a hurry.

It was Kisame who led us as we traveled. He seemed to know where the water was as though he had some kind of sixth sense.

After travelling in silence for about three hours, my brother spoke. "Would you slow down Kisame san?" I had noticed that he'd slowly been falling behind.

"Aww, but we're so close!" Kisame replied in a mock whining voice. Sasuke made an overly exaggerated whining noise in return.

An outsider would probably regard this behaviour from S-classed criminals with an open mouth, a raised eyebrow and a sense of utter disbelief. I, on the other hand, couldn't help but think, 'Here we go again…'

Sasuke was now walking directly behind Kisame. He was probably going to try and hold him back and force him to slow down, even though he already knew it would be futile from past experiences.

Kisame stopped suddenly and as a result, Sasuke ran into his back. It was just as well that Kisame had anticipated this and had briefly shifted the Samehada. He turned around and swiftly threw my brother over his shoulder. He had already run a few paces before my brother realized what had happened.

"Kisame!" he complained. Kisame, however, continued to speed away. I picked up my own pace so that I could keep up with them.

* * *

As we had been travelling, more and more vegetation had slowly begun to appear. There were even trees that were taller than I was at this point. A sense of security returned now that I was amongst more familiar territory.

Suddenly I heard a splash and a slightly muted cry of protest. It was true that no one lived in these parts, but that didn't mean that there wouldn't be other travelers around…

Sasuke and Kisame soon came into view. My brother was sitting on the bank of the shallow waterway, soaking wet. He was determinedly kicking water at Kisame, even though Kisame was already standing in the middle of the river. The water was above his knees; no wonder Sasuke was so wet. Still, I believed that dunking had been involved…

I turned my gaze to the thin canopy above. It was mid afternoon already. I made my way to the base of a tree, which was away from the water. I closed my eyes, feeling tired for some reason.

It was probably the extremely hot weather. I wasn't exactly dressed for these conditions. Not to mention, I hadn't had anything substantial to eat for days.

But something was wrong. Admittedly, Sasuke was usually more childish than I would prefer, but he seemed to be overly so today. Possibly to the point of, for want of a better word, faking it.

I was brought from such thoughts as a wet lump landed next to me. "Yes, Sasuke?" I asked stiffly. I did not feel like getting wet right at this very moment.

"Oh… nothing." He replied. He was leaning on my shoulder, his hair was wetting my face and it was probably intentional.

There had to be something wrong. There was something about him that wasn't quite right. "What's wrong?" I asked quietly. He probably didn't want Kisame to over hear. But Kisame appeared to be busy now anyway. He was staring intensely at the water.

I felt Sasuke shift in surprise. "No, it's nothing… It would sound stupid…" He muttered, obviously trying to avoid the topic.

I reluctantly allowed him to drop the topic. If it were something serious, he would have told me. "Well, we need to get moving. With the amount of noise you two made, I don't really want to stay here for too long." I replied and stood, indicating that we should move now rather than later.

"Well, I'll be looking forward to dinner. These fish aren't very big, but there's plenty of them." Kisame called as he waded out of the river.

Sasuke nodded and stood. He was suddenly more serious as well. Maybe he felt guilty for causing such a ruckus. He was growing up, if slower than I would have liked…

* * *

I was maintaining a small fireball jutsu whilst Kisame manipulated some sticks which had fish on the end of them. As stupid as it may sound, it actually was a good chakra manipulation exercise. It also took a lot of concentration. It was also safer than lighting a fire and making unnecessary light and smoke. This way we left no traces…

Finally Kisame nodded and I cancelled the jutsu. I always felt a little worn out after performing this cooking ritual. Sasuke watched us expectantly. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was looking forward to eating actual food.

Kisame handed Sasuke and I a fish each, warning that it would be hot. "Hn, I'd be more worried if it wasn't hot after all of that." Sasuke replied morosely.

"So, any ideas on how we're going to get into Konoha?" Kisame asked quietly, ignoring my brother's mood. He was obviously worried about eavesdroppers and tracker-nin.

"Well, if we are going to pretend that we're representatives from the water country, it is probably safest if we use a henge. To prevent those which possess the Sharingan or Byakugan from finding us, I would need to create an area genjutsu, a few layers will probably need to be applied…" I realized that Kisame was giving me an odd look. I remembered that he only had a basic knowledge of illusionary techniques.

"Obviously I don't have enough chakra to sustain such a thing. Using the henge and genjutsu on all three of us… I wouldn't last more than ten minutes." I tried again.

"I could lend you mine." He suggested. "It would be like injecting chakra to cancel a genjutsu, but if I do it at a steady rate, you should be able to use it."

"I know you have an unusually large amount of chakra, but I don't think it would be enough." I replied. Just thinking about trying to maintain a genjutsu of that level for twenty-four hours a day gave me a headache.

"There are a lot of people in Konoha aren't there? If I harvested a little from each of them, no one would notice. You should have enough then." He replied as he pulled the Samehada off of his back and placed it on the ground next to him.

"Ok, we will have to test it before we reach Konoha." I said, hoping that this plan would work.

"I'll take first watch then, you're obviously tired." Kisame offered as he stood and replaced the Samehada.

"But you haven't slept for twenty-four hours. You'll put us in danger if you're too tired to watch properly." I argued, worrying for my brother's safety.

"Don't worry, you hardly ever have to be on watch when you travel with Sasori." He explained his lack of fatigue.

"I'll go with him." My brother spoke up. "I mean, I have to learn sometime don't I?"

I gave in. I knew that I definitely wasn't up to taking watch and Sasuke did have to learn. He had to be able to watch for the most skilled shinobi on his own soon.

"Go on then." I muttered as I released the waterproof material from my ever-present scroll. It was too hot to use the material properly, so instead I folded it up and rested my head upon it.

'Before you drift off, I would like you to give me a report on your status.' I felt the familiar mental link and Leader's slightly impatient tone.

'We were going to enter Konoha disguised as representatives from the Water country. That can be arranged can't it?' I asked. He would have to deal with them before they left the country.

'Yes, this is what they look like.' He responded after a short pause. It was an odd sensation as an image was brought up in my mind's eye. It was of two women and one man. One of the women was about twenty years old and the other was a small, greying lady. The man was probably about forty. He was well built and bald, so it was hard to determine his age.

'I will show you the image again and give you more details when you're closer to Konoha. I have also determined that the kyuubi's container is a child, about your brother's age. He may be participating in the chuunin exams.' The mental link was broken suddenly, as usual.

I fell into a deeper sleep than was usual for me.

**This should test you, what's wrong with Sasuke? Huh, huh? Can you guess?**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**Anonymous Reader: A lot of money indeed. I was watching Samurai Champloo and realized that ten ryo is actually a lot of money. No where near 750, 000 dollars, but still a lot. Fight between the three senseis? Who do you mean?**

**HinaWeasel: Wahh, please don't bring up my sad lack of Wii. Or pocky... Hmm...**

**yo: Thanks.**


	19. Testing Disguises

**Chapter 19- **Testing Disguises

I sat atop the only tree in the immediate area, which could hold my weight. I had the Sharingan activated; I could see my brother and Kisame's resting forms to my right. To my left there was an open expanse which hadn't been disturbed by anyone during my hours of watch.

The sun was beginning to rise. It was time to begin moving again. I dropped from the tree and made my way to my comrades' sleeping forms. "Kisame, Sasuke." I called quietly. The quietness was habitual, as was using the least amount of words possible. It was simply an in-built instinct to avoid being discovered. They woke instantly, but kept pretending to still be asleep. If I were to wake them because I had sensed trouble, we would want to keep the element of surprise.

"Time to leave." I said. They knew this meant that there was no trouble. It was simply time to move on.

They rose and we began to seal things away, preparing for travel. Of course this took but a few seconds. "Here Niisan." Sasuke murmured as he handed me a few strips of the infamous dried meat.

I was still curious as to what was ailing my brother, but he obviously didn't want to talk about it. So I let him be and the three of us set off at a relatively leisurely pace.

* * *

Two days had passed and the forest had already become much denser. We were definitely nearing Konoha. It was late in the evening when Leader contacted us again.

'There is a small village in the nearby vicinity. You probably know of it, Itachi san? The representatives from the Water country usually pass through there whenever they need to visit Konoha. Obviously this hasn't taken place for several years, what with our unsteady relations. It would be an excellent time to test your disguises. I will further describe those who you will disguise yourselves as individually.' Leader immediately began to explain.

'This task shouldn't be too difficult. The man, Kawaguchi Daiichi, is roughly the same build as Kisame. I trust you can imitate these images without my banter.' He added as he pulled up the mental image in my mind's eye again.

'Sasuke is already the shortest so it would probably be easier if were to be the older woman, Kawaguchi Megumi. She doesn't talk at all in front of strangers, so there is no need for him to worry over imitating her voice too much. That leaves the younger woman, Kawaguchi Emiko. I will brief the others while you work on their physical appearance.' He finished before moving on.

I closely studied the mental image and began to make changes to my appearance. My face shape would have to change, my hair would have to appear longer and be worn out rather than tied up. Then there was eye colour, blue, and I had to appear a little taller than usual.

Next, I worked on the clothing. It would be easier just to copy the clothing from the mental image. I did so, the result being a simple and plain sky blue kimono and a wide, navy blue obi.

I turned to Kisame, silently asking whether I had missed any important details. He rested his index finger over his mouth, obviously trying to cover his laughter. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to tell me what was wrong.

"I understand that you can't see much of a woman's figure when she's wearing a kimono, but honestly Itachi san, that doesn't mean that she doesn't have one.

I felt my face heat up a little at his comment. I didn't know all that much about a woman's figure. I could honestly say that I had never had time for such things.

I was mostly embarrassed because I had been caught not knowing something relevant to being an effective ninja. This hadn't happened for years…

I kept a blank look on my face as I asked, "Well, what do you suggest?"

"Obviously you wouldn't travel in a padded kimono, so the obi is going to accentuate some of her curves." He said as he made odd hand motions. Apparently he was trying to show me how she should curve.

I altered my fake appearance slightly, making myself "rounder" in the places Kisame pointed out. Eventually he nodded in approval and I moved on to changing his and Sasuke's appearances. I had little trouble with them and soon we were ready to move on once again.

It would be difficult to imitate these people perfectly because we had never seen them walk, speak or interact with others.

"Alright, try channeling your chakra now." I prompted Kisame, who now looked completely different. He nodded and was silent for a few moments, until I felt a burning sensation in my stomach area. It swiftly became stronger and stronger until it was unbearable.

I staggered sideways and supported myself against one of the many nearby tree trunks. "That's too much!" I gritted out harshly. The burning instantly disappeared. "You will permanently damage my chakra circulatory system if you do that again. Less this time."

'Much less,' was left unsaid. If he had to, Kisame could probably attack people with raw chakra alone.

A slight burning sensation touched my stomach this time. It was uncomfortable, but not painful. I cautiously circulated a small amount of chakra through my system and began to use it to uphold the henges instead. It wasn't damaging me at all, so I used more. I still found that it was more than enough for the henges.

On the off chance that a ninja capable of using Byakugan, or even Sharingan happened to be in the small village, I used Kisame's chakra to suppress and hide the telltale signs that we were using chakra to disguise ourselves.

"We need to head west for about two-hundred and fifty meters." I said, testing my voice to find one that would suit this woman.

Leader informed us of more things as we walked. I began to take smaller steps, realizing that I couldn't exactly walk normally in a kimono. I also learnt that Emiko had a habit of covering her mouth with her sleeve whenever she did actually talk.

Sasuke, or rather Megumi, developed a hobble and bent over slightly. Kisame didn't have to change anything physically, but he would do the most talking. His voice would need to be adjusted especially.

We reached the road that was typically used by travelers who didn't need to hide amongst the leaves to stay alive. We traveled along the quiet gravel road a short distance before we came across the small village. Despite it's relatively small size, it appeared to be very busy.

There was even a guard at the gate; in fact there were two. One was a man who was probably about Kisame's age. The other was a girl who was probably about Emiko's age.

The man seemed to recognize us, especially Kisame who he greeted as though they were old friends before looking me up and down. My eyes narrowed, I was suspicious of his motives. But he simply said, "Well, haven't you grown since I saw you last Emiko chan? Can you believe it's been five years since we all saw each other? Oh, and Megumi sama, you still don't look a day over eighty!"

I shook my head curtly before looking at the other girl. I noticed that Sasuke was now regarding the other man coolly. He had remembered not to speak. The older man returned to exchanging greetings with Kisame.

"Emiko chan?" The girl asked quietly. She was looking at my feet. I wondered why she wouldn't meet my gaze.

"Yes?" I responded, remembering to cover most of my face with my sleeve. She looked up at me, smiling, but her eyes didn't- couldn't meet mine. I realized that she was blind. I felt my stomach clench as this information processed. I would be like her soon enough… I wondered how she could smile so easily.

I shuffled my feet a little, because I was both uncomfortable and I wanted the girl to know that I was still standing there.

"Kana chan. You can talk to Emiko chan later. It's getting dark now, so they probably want to rest, especially Megumi sama." The man said. Kana…I thought it ironic that both she and the scripts we used to write our words in were both called 'kana'…

The man beckoned for us to follow him. "We have a spare room in our inn. You can stay there, no charge." He explained as he walked into the town. I noticed that another pair of people had taken his place and were guarding the town's entrance.

"I'll sneak in and talk to you tonight, so don't fall asleep." Kana whispered as I passed her. I began to nod in response, until I remembered that she couldn't see me.

"Ok." I replied quietly, wondering how exactly she could sneak if she was blind. I wondered whether she had heard me, but she had already wandered off elsewhere.

* * *

We soon arrived at an inn, otherwise known as a Ryokan, which was fairly large considering the size of the town. Obviously we weren't the only ones who traveled to Konoha along this route.

It was almost dark, the sun had almost set. It seemed to struggle to shed it's remaining rays of light on the world. It occurred to me that in a few years I would never see the sun again.

We were shown into a fairly sized room, which could be separated by sliding doors. "I will have some food brought up to you in about twenty minutes. Please make yourselves at home." The man who still remained nameless said as he exited the room, closing the door behind him.

We purposefully made a bit of noise as we set out the futon and tested the sliding doors. We were trying to appear as normal civilians after all. I found that we had to keep the doors open slightly otherwise Kisame wouldn't be able to lend me chakra. The more distance there was between us, the more chakra he had to use to make the supplies reach me.

There was a call of, "Please excuse the interruption," as the door to our room was slid open. It turned out to be staff arriving with food. Once they had set the food on a low table in the center of the room, they left.

As soon as they were gone, we began to check the meal for poisoning. After all, they could have discovered us and were trying to kill us off quietly. But the food was clean. I picked up my bowl of rice and began to eat.

**Anonymous Reviewers**

**Anonymous Reader- Ohhh, that fight. Actually I'm not sure yet. This is during the month long gap in between the second and third part of the chuunin exam. This part of the manga is covered in about three chapters...**

**Gina Ichimaru's girl- Interesting thought, that may come into it a bit later. I'm glad you think my writing has improved too. One of the main reasons I took up fanfiction was so I could practice writing and improve academically. So yay!**

**iwalkinthelight- I've read that fic too! The one about Sasuke becoming blind. But I got sick of it, so I don't know what it's called either, sorry. Thank you for trying to guess. Your guesses also give me ideas, so they may eventually be correct anyway, hehe.**


	20. A Talk With the Blind

**Sorry if this chapter is a bit late. I've lost track of the days because a bush fire nearly burnt my house down. My property is very black now. Scary stuff, but nobody died. The sun was very red. It was creepy. Anyway, that's life.**

**Chapter 20- **A Talk With the Blind

It was completely dark; not even the moon was out to break up the darkness. I was sitting by the door that led out onto the small balcony area. It was a warm night, so I left the sliding door open. I was waiting for the blind woman, Kana, to come.

Soon enough she was standing on the balcony. "Emiko chan." I heard her whisper. It wasn't a question either. She walked through the doorway and sat in front of me.

"Kana chan." I responded quietly. All of her movements had been completely silent. She had the skill of a highly ranked ninja, at least in that respect.

She shook her head and smiled. "Who are you really, Mister Shinobi?" She asked quietly. She sounded curious rather than scared or cautious. It was… odd.

"Excuse me?" I asked, still acting. How had she discovered us?

Kana just continued to smile softly in response. "You may _look_ like them and you may _act_ like them to a degree. But it certainly isn't enough to fool me. Even though I haven't seen Emiko chan for a very long time, it was easy to tell that you weren't her. You're good at changing your voice, but I can still pick up an undertone, which clearly points out that you're a man. You also walk too heavily to be petite little Emiko. I suspect that was your imitation of a civilian walking…" She added thoughtfully.

I was surprised that she had picked up so many details with her ears alone. But there were more pressing matters. "Who else have you told?" I demanded as I drew two shuriken from my sleeve. I didn't bother trying to imitate a woman's voice anymore.

"No one." She replied, still calm. "Those idiots think I'm useless just because I'm blind. Tough for them if they can't figure you out. So you can put the weapon away."

I frowned. How had she heard me drawing a weapon? I was sure that it had been silent. Kana had discovered us because of the tiniest details. I supposed that I had been trained to fool the eye and the untrained ear. Her ears and other senses had clearly compensated for her lack of vision. I had to admit that I was curious, extremely so.

"How would you describe being blind?" I asked, wondering whether she would answer me at all.

"Hmm… I can't really compare it to being able to see because I've been like this for more than half of my life. But it doesn't take very long for the human body to adapt. It's not just my hearing that has improved, I can smell a lot of poisons and my memory is fairly good. After all, I'd rather remember where everything is than feel around in the dark. Of course I can navigate unfamiliar territory quite well now." She explained.

I wasn't expecting her to be so open. "How long did it take to adjust?" I asked as I slid my shuriken back into my sleeve.

"Well, you keep learning new things through life don't you? But it took me a few months before I could navigate and memorize familiar surroundings. Why so curious?"

I had been expecting the question. My answer was quite vague. "I will be completely blind in a few years." Even though my voice sounded toneless to me, she obviously picked up a tone and read into it.

"You don't have to worry! Being blind is a life changing experience, but once you've gone through some rehabilitation, you'll be able to return to your ninja training." She assured. "You should come by, then I can give you some advice. The only problem would be recognizing each other…" She trailed off.

"Nice of you to offer, but I doubt I will pass through this way again." I replied.

"Well, you never know…" Kana responded. She didn't appear to be bothered. "You know, some shinobi cover their sight while training purposefully. So why do you think losing your sight is such a bad thing?"

I couldn't tell her that half of my successes as a ninja had come about because I possessed the Sharingan. So I once again answered vaguely. "A lot of my techniques rely on my eyes."

"All you have to do is find a safe place with someone you can trust and relearn everything. Right back to walking, then the Academy and then all the way to your current rank of… jonin?" She said. She seemed to be getting a little impatient...

"Right." I muttered, not bothering to correct her. I didn't think that 'S-classed criminal' would go down so well. "I take it that you were a ninja. If you've returned to this level, why aren't you working as one now?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Well, I made it to genin at ten, but then 'the accident' happened. They wouldn't continue to train me so I managed to teach myself to a degree. I don't need to be looked after now, but they wouldn't take me back anyway. The Hokage said that he wouldn't be able to stand it if I was killed in action. But I don't care. I'd rather be doing something!" She answered hotly. I didn't probe for details concerning her accident or why she was here rather than a civilian in Konoha.

"What makes you think that I would be accepted back into the line of duty?" I asked. I felt that I shared her opinions. I'd rather be doing something as well…

"You might end up being luckier than me. Anyway, I had better get going. I still need sleep. I just have one more question. How old are you, Mister Shinobi?" She asked as she stood and headed toward the balcony again.

"Eighteen." I answered, wondering where this was leading.

"What? You're not even an adult yet? You're much too young for me!" She exclaimed, quietly of course, before jumping off of the balcony and disappearing into the darkness.

I closed the door firmly, thoroughly disturbed. Kisame's barely concealed laughter wasn't helping any either…

* * *

It was midmorning and I was glad to be leaving this place. Sustaining this technique and trying to get some sleep at the same time had proved to be very difficult.

We were standing at the town's gates, which were located on the other side of the town this time. This was because the main travelling road ran through the town. I was a little impatient because I wanted to leave. But our host, who _still_ remained nameless, seemed to think that a long goodbye was in order.

He was talking to Kisame again. I didn't even bother to try and follow their conversation. Kana was smiling and making small talk, as though I was Emiko again.

Finally our host let us leave. "Alright Kana chan, we'd better let them go now!" His voice cut over her words. This obviously annoyed her, so she turned to glare at him.

I walked forwards as Kisame and Sasuke moved as well. I stopped in front of Kana and whispered, "So how old are you then?"

"Twenty-four." She replied. "You should come see me when you're a bit older." She replied, now smiling again.

"Hmm… Grandma." I responded before walking away quickly to catch up with the other two. I could hear her laughter, which soon abated into giggles. It had been quite a while since I had heard someone laugh like that.

I finally fell into stride with Sasuke and Kisame. I instantly noticed that they were both giving me a strange look. I could guess why… "Yes?" I asked, feeling a little out of place.

"She laughed at something you said! What the hell was it?" Kisame practically demanded of me as he looked back at the receding village.

"Well, it wasn't that funny. She's just a little… odd." I replied and smirked a little. I don't know why I had said it to her. I had just felt… compelled to.

They continued to stare at me, almost accusingly. I expected the 'Who are you and what have you done with Itachi?' at any moment.

"I simply asked for her age, which was twenty-four and then she made a smart remark about how I should come by again when I was an adult. So I called her a Grandma before leaving. That's all." I replied to their unspoken question.

Kisame grinned whilst shaking his head. "She's laughing _now_. But then she'll come after you with a vengeance for taking a stab at her age." He warned in a serious tone.

I looked at him blankly before turning back to the road ahead. Nothing more was said about the incident.

We would have to travel along the road for a few hundred meters before we could disappear amongst the trees and drop these disguises.

**Yeah… Don't ask…  
Come on 150 reviews! Yes I think I'm being very optimistic.**

**Anonymous Reviewers**

**iwalkinthelight- I'm glad you like the details I add in. If it is written from first person, I think you need little details to make it seem more realistic. Hope you liked this chapter at least a little. Oh, and I thought I'd better make Sasuke grow up a bit because of complaints (which were rightfully made). Maybe making him an eighty-plus year old woman was taking things a little far though...**

**HinaWeasel- Yeah, he was pretty ignorant, maybe not so much now. Silly men indeed, I could give you a full blown rant about that, but I will spare you. Hehe.**


	21. A Lead

**Aww, only three off of my goal… Hehe, anyway, this chapter was a pain in the bum to write, so I apologize if it's kind of suckish. I can't believe this already has as many chapters as Alternate History! But wait, there's still more to come of this one, much more.**

**Chapter 21-** A Lead

Once again, I found myself outside the gates of Konoha. But this time I had a much more complex disguise, as did my comrades, Sasuke and Kisame. I found it ironic that I found myself here again so soon. I had thought that I would never set foot in this place again.

I was happy to spend more time here, but there was a problem. We had arrived approximately twenty-four hours early. The Water representatives weren't expected until tomorrow evening.

Of course this wasn't something to be overly suspicious about, but it was enough to set the guard who had greeted us on edge.

"Who did you say you were again?" He asked as his eyes scanned the open scroll. I hadn't actually been on guard duty before, so I didn't know exactly what he was checking. I guessed that he was searching for our names. I looked at Kisame pointedly. He would have to answer for us.

"Kawaguchi Daichi, Emiko and Megumi." He replied, pointing us out in turn.

"Hmm, you are rather early. I suggest that you go and see Hokage sama and ask about your lodgings for tonight."

Go to the Hokage for something like that? No, he just wanted someone of a higher rank to deal with us. He was obviously suspicious and I didn't doubt that he'd subtly sent a message ahead to warn the Hokage about us.

"Just head towards the big red building." He finished and pointed out said building. I briefly wondered whether the guards on the front gate were trained to unnecessarily point out the building before I followed Kisame into the village.

* * *

We were inside the famous 'big red building'. We were being ushered into the Hokage's office by an ANBU member. The ANBU took up a position behind the Hokage, near the very large window.

"Ah, the Kawaguchis are here already? You don't need to worry about accommodation because you will be able to stay in the same hotel room until the exam has concluded." The Hokage said as soon as he saw us enter the room.

"Thank you." Kisame replied.

"As was agreed earlier, I will have two of my shinobi escort you around the village and show you points of interest for the next week or so. I have called for the two shinobi already; they should arrive at any minute." Sandaime continued.

I assumed that this was a purely political visit. The Fire country was trying to forge trust with the Water country by showing a few representatives around their main ninja village. If all went well, a few Fire representatives would be shown around a few of the smaller ninja villages in the Water country.

It was risky for Konoha to initiate this exchange, but something had to be done about the tension between the nations. I knew that the Water country would never initiate something of this kind.

A knock on the Hokage's door effectively pulled me out of my thoughts. "Come in." Sandaime called.

The door opened and Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura entered. "This is Hatake Kakashi and one of his genin students, Haruno Sakura." The Hokage said a moment later. "They will be your guides for the next week and a half."

This was not good news. Hatake Kakashi was the last person that I wanted to be constantly nearby. I doubted that he could see through my extensive genjutsu, but if he lifted his headband and used the Sharingan properly, it would be very likely that he would be able to see us for who we were.

"They will take you to your lodgings now. I hope your time in Konoha is informative." Sandaime finished before returning to a stack of paper work.

"This way please." Kakashi said and almost halfheartedly motioned for us to follow.

* * *

We walked through the quieting and darkening town in complete silence. It was more than a little awkward. Eventually we came to a stop in front of a small yet tidy inn. I didn't remember this place being in this part of town. It must have been a new establishment.

"Well, this is where we part ways. Sakura chan and I will be here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. I hope you rest well." Kakashi said in a bored tone before waving and walking away.

"See you tomorrow." Sakura added hesitantly before she followed her sensei.

The inn turned out to be practically the same as the one in the village that we stopped in a few days ago. A cheery hostess showed us to our room and left quickly.

I was relieved to find that we had a private bathroom here. I hadn't washed properly for days. That meant that I could easily be tracked by smell. Not to mention, with a private bathing facility, I wouldn't have to bother upholding a convincing female henge either.

I entered the bathroom and rolled back the mat, which covered the bath. The bath was already filled with steaming water so I rolled the mat back into place to preserve the warmth.

I created a bucket of warm soapy water with the tools provided and used it to scrub myself clean. I rinsed off underneath something, which seemed to be crossed between a shower and a tap. It wasn't exactly comfortable under the strong stream of freezing water, so I quickly made my way to the warmer bath.

Again, I rolled back the mat that covered the small yet deep bath and sat down in the steaming water. I sighed quietly, hoping to release some of my stress into the water.

Feeling more relaxed after the heat of the water; I got out a few minutes later and covered the bath again. I dried off and changed into the provided yuukata. I put the henge back in place properly before exiting the bathroom.

I noticed that three futons had been set up as well as a table in the middle of the room with dinner on it. Kisame and Sasuke were sitting at the table already. Screens could divide this room as well, but they had been folded back to accommodate for the low table.

"Can I go next?" Sasuke asked as I tried to gracefully sit down on Kisame's side of the table as a lady of Emiko's political status would. Unfortunately I wasn't very successful. I saw that Sasuke had eaten next to nothing, judging from his full bowl.

"Yes, but please eat something more when you're finished." I replied politely. I was practicing speaking to him as though he were my elder. He nodded and made his way to the bathroom.

Kisame was shaking his head. "It takes years of practice to be able to sit like that you know. What do you think geishas do with all their time?" He asked as he served himself another bowl full of rice.

"It's stupid really. Kunoichi learn all about culture and the way of other countries. Male shinobi should learn all of that as well. I find myself needing to cross-dress and I realize that I have no idea…" I began speaking, not quite sure how to finish.

"I suppose that's why teams in Konoha have at least one female shinobi in them." He replied, putting his already empty bowl back on the table. What did he do, inhale food? He took my bowl and dished up a serving of rice for me. There was an assortment of seafood on the table as well, including prawns, crab and some sort of sliced raw fish. Kakuzu would have a fit if we had to pay for this.

"I guess my parents, my entire clan, focused on the masculine side of training. To think, there's a whole side of being a ninja that I know next to nothing about. Yet I'm still called a prodigy. Maybe I should find someone to teach my brother kunoichi ways?" Of course our conversation was barely above a whisper. The last thing we wanted was to be overheard.

"They say knowledge is power, but I have no idea who could teach him. _She_ is much too busy these days… Maybe _Kana chan_ could?" He teased. I knew that the first woman he had been referring to was Konan. No matter how quietly we were talking, we would never say names that could give us away.

I ignored his tone and shrugged. Kisame stood and wandered over to his futon. He dragged it closer to the one, which was presumably mine. Kisame must find it difficult to supply me with chakra when he slept, just as I had difficulty maintaining the genjutsu whilst sleeping.

"This place has better service than the last one. They even set our beds up." Kisame said off handedly as he partly closed the screens. He returned to his place at the table. We sat in silence until Sasuke exited the bathroom.

"Good, that means I'm next." Kisame said happily. He was probably pleased to get away from the silence more than anything else.

Sasuke sat down in the spot that Kisame had recently vacated. He breathed in deeply before speaking. "Niisan, I… I think I know who the nine tails is..." He said hesitantly and very quietly. I let him know he had my full attention by looking at him directly.

This seemed to make him more nervous. "Well?" I encouraged when he didn't continue.

"I _think _it's… Uzumaki Naruto."

I recognized the name and remembered the loud, orange and possibly dyslexic genin. "Why do you think so?"

"Well, you never got to see him with the Sharingan, but you should see his chakra. There's so much of it and he seems to have two different types or something…" He responded. He sounded a little… afraid? But this sounded very promising.

"Why didn't you mention it earlier?" I asked Sasuke.

"We became… friends I suppose. I would prefer it if he didn't die, but it seems that I will have to live with it. It seems you either kill or threaten to kill anyone that I end up liking or loving, even yourself." He said, his voice getting quieter and quieter.

I felt as though I had just been slapped across the face. I was suddenly wracked with guilt to the point that it was painful. He continued to stare at me somberly. "I'm sorry it had to turn out this way." I muttered as I tried to clamp down on my emotions.

"It isn't your fault really…" He replied after a lengthy pause. He slowly began to eat.

"I'm glad that you think so." I responded as I set my own bowl on the tabletop. I inspected the raw fish and tried a little. "I don't know what this is, but it's disgusting." I warned before leaving the table. He smiled a little as he continued to eat.

"Did I hear correctly? Food someone else doesn't want? I'll eat it if you like." Kisame added, rather loudly in comparison to our whispered conversation. He properly distracted us from our depressive moods.

"Oh how kind of you." Sasuke replied sarcastically as he too left the table.

When I reflected on that conversation, I couldn't help but think it was very strange because we were all henged as different people. It was even somewhat humorous.

**Well, I think that will be the last update for quite a while. I have to go back to school on Monday. Yes I will have very little time to write but I will try to update at least once a month. See you whenever I end up getting the next chapter up.  
Oh and it is possible to feel so much guilt that it hurts, I've experienced it unfortunately. Stupid conscience...**

**Cultural Note: Well, I've never had a bath Japanese style, but from what I've read, I'm guessing that's similar to what it would be like.**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**yo: Glad you liked the last chapter.**

**iwalkinthelight: Yeah well... who cares about Sasuke anyway... hehe. Yes, the wonderment of the blind ninja! I don't think 'wonderment' is even a word. It doesn't sound right, like 'headed' and 'gotten'. But, I digress!**

**HinaWeasel: I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you liked this one too. Hopefully no more shocking behaviour from Itachi hm?**


	22. Discovery

**Gah, I already have so much homework… I can only work on this during the weekends, so it will take at least two weeks just to draft a chapter. Oh well, writing fanfiction has actually improved my grammar and writing skills a lot. Hopefully it will continue to do so!**

**Also this story is about to get much more accurate. I'm studying Human Biology this year. I might even learn about a disease that Itachi could have.  
**

**Chapter 22- **Discovery

A week later I found myself thoroughly reacquainted with Konoha. We had seen everything from the Ninja Academy to the Hokage Monument.

On the final day of our 'grand tour', we were shown an area that I knew little of. We, that is, Sasuke, Kisame, Sakura and I, were walking alongside a shallow river. Kakashi had stopped accompanying us after the second day of our time in Konoha. Was he just being lazy, or had he found us out?

There was dense forest surrounding us and a clear blue sky up above. Such was the middle of summer in the Fire country.

Sakura was explaining that this was the place where people from all over the village came to relax. As we rounded yet another bend in the river, a gently flowing waterfall came into view. Under the waterfall, a few scantily clad women were mucking about.

I averted my gaze quickly. Perverts were very low on my list of whom I should deign respect. But as I averted my gaze, I noticed the gleam of a metallic object.

Instinctively I zeroed in on it to ensure that it wasn't a weapon of some kind. After a few moments of critical examination, I came to realize that the metal object was a telescope. Instantly my mind jumped to thoughts concerning surveillance. Was somebody watching us?

That suspicion was almost immediately discarded. It was far too obvious, not to mention that we were much too close to watch through a telescope. Besides, the telescope wasn't even focused in our direction. It was pointing towards the women…

"A pervert!" Sakura yelled indignantly as she stalked off in the direction of the metal object. A few of the other women had heard her and a few screams and cries of protest issued from them as a result. Now that Sakura was our only guide, we had no choice but to follow after her.

Sakura pushed the bushes apart with so much ferocity that I wouldn't have been surprised if she had uprooted them in the process. "Eeeh? What are you doing here Sakura chan?" I heard a loud and obnoxious voice question her. Was that Naruto's voice, or was I just being optimistic?

"What are you doing you old fart?" Sakura demanded of the now visible white-haired man who was holding the telescope.

"WHAT?" He yelled in return. "I'm no old fart! I am the Great Toad Sage, Jiraiya sama!" He struck an odd pose and brandished the telescope at her in defense.

Could he be Jiraiya of the sannin? It was most likely, he had mentioned that he was a toad sage after all...

Behind the commotion that Jiraiya and Sakura were creating, I saw Naruto sitting on the bank of a smaller stream. All I had to do now was confirm the target.

We couldn't capture him yet, not with Jiraiya around. It wasn't worth being discovered simply for an unlikely chance of capturing the nine tails…

"Jiraiya sama? Of the sannin?" I asked quietly, covering my mouth with my sleeve. I had to confirm his identity before jumping to such conclusions.

"Oh, even a pretty lady like yourself has heard of me?" Jiraiya asked. He was now completely ignoring Sakura. He was too busy looking at my- Emiko's body. An inexplicable sense of rage burned my insides. I felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Stop looking at my granddaughter like that!" Sasuke screeched in a fair imitation of an elder lady's voice. He advanced slowly whilst glaring intensely at Jiraiya. I was quite amazed by his new-found skills in acting.

"Yes I think my grandmother is more your age." I responded dryly before turning away and heading in Naruto's direction.

While Sasuke held up a surprisingly good distraction, which mainly consisted of ranting about castration, I attempted to converse with Naruto. I wasn't used to initiating conversation.

"So, you must be Naruto kun? I hope you haven't been peeking at those ladies as well." I said quietly as I knelt next to him.

"What? No way!" he exclaimed as he crossed his arms above his head, indicating 'no way' with his body language as well. "I'm supposed to be training, but Erosennin won't help me!" He sounded completely horrified.

"What kind of training have you been doing? Can you show me?" I asked softly, shaping my features to an innocently curious expression.

He enthusiastically took the chance to show off and began to mould chakra. As he did so, I saw a strange mark begin to appear on his stomach. It was a seal, and quite a complex one at that. It was very powerful, the fourth had sacrificed his own life to create it after all.

I risked using the Sharingan for a few brief seconds to inspect his actual chakra. Yes, there was his normal chakra, which was blue, just like everybody else's. But there was also a thin stream of red chakra. The seal was restraining most of this red chakra, but there was still an enormous amount of it.

I quickly deactivated the Sharingan. The target had been confirmed. "Oh wow. You're walking on water!" I said, pretending to be ignorant to the ninja ways.

"Yup! This is all helping my chakra control. But I'm still nervous about the chuunin exam. Mostly because Erosennin doesn't help me!"

"Let's leave our tour there for today. I think you should return to the inn." Sakura interjected angrily as she glared at Jiraiya.

"Good luck Naruto kun." I responded before we made our way back down the river.

* * *

Once again we were alone in our hotel room. It was still mid afternoon, but Sakura had obviously had enough of showing three strangers around Konoha.

I leaned back onto my futon and exhaled. I felt surprisingly exhausted. But I had been using chakra non-stop for over a week. Even if it wasn't my own reserves, the solid block of concentration was enough to tax my energy.

"Are you all right, Niisan?" Sasuke asked. He looked genuinely concerned.

"Relatively." I responded as I slowly closed my eyes. I needed to rest, but it would have to wait until tomorrow. "We are leaving Konoha tomorrow, aren't we?" I asked.

"Yeah, the exam starts tomorrow morning, so we can leave after lunch… hopefully. It may drag on for longer than that though." Kisame answered.

I nodded slightly. My mind seemed to be crowded and stuffy. Perhaps I had subject myself to a little too much mental stress…

"But shouldn't we stay now that the target has been confirmed?" Sasuke asked hesitantly. I could tell he was trying to distance himself from the situation by his use of technical terminology.

"There's no need to remain incognito now that we know who we're after. We will leave as the representatives to avoid arousing unnecessary suspicion. Our mission can't affect the political status of the Water country. We will return undisguised." I explained.

It did bother me that Sasuke would be seen with us. I would need to get a uniform to cover his identity and hope that we wouldn't run into Kakashi _again_.

"I'm going to try and sleep now. Wake me if the need arises." I muttered before lightly drifting off.

* * *

I heard a soft whisper of, "Niisan," in my ear. I felt a hand slowly touch my shoulder. This had become a signal between Sasuke, Kisame and myself which helped assure the other that we weren't impostors.

I opened an eye and saw Megumi's wrinkled face above my own. It was turned to the side as though she was looking over her shoulder.

"What is it?" I asked as I began to assess my surroundings. It was already daylight again. Surprisingly our henges were still intact and I couldn't sense anybody else in the area.

"You have to get ready quickly, the exam starts in about twenty minutes." Sasuke replied.

I had definitely overslept, but I still didn't feel like I had rested very well. I ensured that there were no holes in my genjutsu before I got up.

"Let's get going then."

* * *

Much to my dismay, I found myself seated directly in front of Kakashi, who was reading an orange novel and giggling every now and again. He was extremely disconcerting, without even considering his Sharingan eye.

Sasuke was on my left and Kisame was to my right. Our seating arrangement could have been planned better…

The finalists were lining up on the field far below us. There were seven of them; Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji, Aburame Shino, and Nara Shikamaru from Konoha alone. The other three finalists were the Sand siblings. It was certainly odd that things had turned out this way…

Someone was missing. There were supposed to be eight finalists. Somehow I doubted that they were simply running late…

The chuunin who would be judging the matches seemed to be explaining something to them. It was soon apparent that the first battle would be between Naruto and Neji.

Another giggle emanated from behind me. It certainly wasn't helping my concentration one bit. I wondered if that was what he intended…

The fight between Naruto and Neji went on for a very long time. Truthfully I wasn't particularly interested in watching the fight, I just wanted to leave. This had been an excellent opportunity to see what his fighting style was like, but I was honestly too tired to take advantage of it properly.

"Finished ogling Uchiha?" Kakashi asked from behind me. I turned in time to see him sliding his headband back down to cover his eye.

I turned back and responded just as quietly. "I think there is more for you to be worrying about than me."

"I'm not so sure." Kakashi replied curtly. He was treating this seriously; his book had disappeared.

"Orochimaru is here you know." I said almost conversationally. Kakashi couldn't start a fight with us during the exam. Someone important could get killed.

"So I've heard." He responded neutrally. Another battle had already begun. This time it was between the Sand kunoichi and Shikamaru.

"Niisan, I think Orochimaru has taken the place of the Kazekage…" Sasuke began. I could see that he had his Sharingan activated.

"He must have known that we would return. Get ready for a fight." I advised.

**Whew, that took forever. Over the next few chapters I will probably be experimenting with new vocabulary to prepare myself for my English classes. If something doesn't sound right or I have used a word incorrectly, please tell me.**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**Anonymous Reader: No need to be sorry, there are more important things than this fic after all! Thank you for the feedback. **

**HinaWeasel: Glad you like it. How will Sasuke learn kunoichi ways? I still haven't decided myself.**

**iwalkinthelight: Well, I assume they have wetsern baths in Japan as well, but certainly in places like traditional inns the bathing facilities would be something like that. I'm doing Physics aswell. So far it has managed to confuse the hell out of me. Good luck on your course, I hope your laptop doesn't get taken away again. Thanks for checking my story first. It's things like that which can make my day.  
**


	23. Fight or Flight?

**Alright, after a long delay, here it is! (Short as it may be) Also yay for 160 reviews!  
**

**Chapter 23- **Fight or Flight?

An hour had passed since Shikamru and the Sand kunoichi's battle had begun, and it was still going. If every battle took this amount of time, we would still be here by midnight.

"Would you care to explain _why_ you're here?" Kakashi suddenly asked from behind me. He was still watching us, of course.

"No." I replied simply. I realized that the current fight had just ended and the Sand kunoichi had, apparently, been victorious. From what I could make out at this distance, the Sand shinobi with a puppet strapped to his back had withdrawn from his match against Shino, the Aburame boy. The next match was announced. It was to be between Naruto and Gaara.

Whilst the rest of the crowd, at least those who were around us, watched the match attentively, I began to try to make sense of the previous events.

Orochimaru had taken the place of the Kazekage. The Sand kunoichi could possibly have been buying time via her fight with the Nara. But she had obviously ended up battling for much longer than she had been expecting, so her comrade had forfeited his match. Now the third and probably most dangerous Sand shinobi was battling. I was almost sure that something significant was going to occur during the course of this fight.

I briefly glanced towards the kages before returning my gaze to the arena below, where the battle was about to begin.

I noticed that once again Naruto's first move was to create more kagebunshin. The amount of chakra that boy possessed was unbelievable…

"Should we intervene?" I suddenly asked no one in particular. "I have a bad feeling about this battle, particularly concerning where it is going to end."

"Oh yes, I would have to agree." Kisame replied. I suspected that he had said it simply to provoke Kakashi.

I stared at the battle below, not really taking any of it in. But I didn't need to be alert and attentive to notice that both sides were using ridiculous amounts of chakra. It was rather surprising that the red head could keep up with the kyuubi container. I wondered what was so significant about him…

My eyes briefly flitted over the crowded stadium before landing on the other two Sand genin. Was it my imagination, or did they appear to be worried about something?

"Niisan, Orochimaru seems to be uneasy about something…" Sasuke muttered, reflecting my train of thought almost perfectly. His Sharingan was still focused on the fake kage.

"Their plans mustn't be going very well." I commented before returning my attention to the battle at hand.

The red haired shinobi, Gaara, seemed to have disappeared. In his stead, there was a perfect sphere of sand. I came to the conclusion that he was residing within. Was he healing, or planning some kind of attack?

A sudden exclamation of, "Kakashi, my rival!" successfully managed to divert my attention. It was Gai again, of course…

I saw his student, Rock Lee, nearby. He was holding the railing, which ran around the inside of the seating arrangement to prevent civilians from plummeting to their death, with one hand and supported himself on a crutch with the other. I wondered how exactly he had managed to injure himself so severely.

Once again my attention was diverted, this time by a soft, white feather drifting before my eyes. It continued to slowly float down before landing in my lap. I suddenly felt even more tired than I had previously. Instantly I categorized the feeling as being subject to a particularly powerful genjutsu.

I immediately activated my own Sharingan and easily warded its effects away. My brother looked a little drowsy, but he had managed to stay awake. Almost everyone around us, except Kakashi and Gai, had passed out. For the first time I noticed that Sakura was near us as well. She too had managed to fight off the genjutsu.

My chakra supply unexpectedly began to deplete at a very rapid rate. I tried to pinpoint who was attacking me and what technique they were using. I cancelled the genjutsu, attempting to conserve as much chakra as possible and avoid a sudden death.

Only then did I realize that the sudden strain on my chakra supply had occurred because Kisame had succumbed to the genjutsu. He couldn't supply me with chakra when he was completely unconscious.

I knelt down next to him and touched the pressure point beneath his jaw-line. I injected some of my now very limited chakra into him and as a result, he slowly woke up.

There was no point to replacing the genjutsu at this stage. Dozens of ANBU were swarming around the area, so we had probably been spotted by several of them already.

I cast my gaze around once again, trying to quickly identify the best escape route. I saw Naruto lying unconscious on the field below. Now would be the perfect time to abduct him, if only Kakashi and Gai weren't watching our every move…

"Let's retreat." I commanded rather than suggested. It was far too dangerous to stay here. I made my way towards the entrance that Gai and Lee had used, but rather than waste time on the stairs, I leapt onto the roof of the nearest building and ran along the uneven tiling.

I looked to my right and saw a giant three-headed snake, and another large one-headed snake attacking the walls of Konoha. Orochimaru could never have summoned such large beasts on his own, which meant several of his subordinates were more than likely to be close by.

I dropped down between two buildings and quickly performed a simple to henge, covering my brother's appearance with an Akatsuki uniform. He landed next to me and Kisame soon appeared on my other side.

"Do you want to stay and fight?" Kisame asked quietly to avoid detection.

I paused and thought carefully before answering. I felt an odd patriotic duty to stay and defend, but even if I was in a position to do so, I simply didn't have the strength. "No, neither of us have the strength to do so, the last week or so has wasted away most of our stamina. We should take this opportunity to leave undetected. I don't want Sasuke to be associated with us either." I quickly explained.

They both nodded and we resumed moving towards the walls of Konoha, in the opposite direction of the snakes, of course.

**I'm sorry it's so short, but these days I have at least one important test a week so I have little time to work on my fanfics. I do have my holidays in four weeks though. Don't expect another update on this story until then.**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**Anonymous Reader- Writing Jiraiya is surprisingly fun, even though I disapprove of his pervertedness. Feel free to look for diseases and let me know what you come up with. I'll accept whatever help I can get. Thank you.**

**iwalkinthelight- (Scratches head) Isn't the whole point of writing to expand your vocabulary and inform someone of something... That's what my English teacher says anyway. I'm supposed to "craft responses" and my writing should be "a carefully constructed art work". Anyway, enough about my english teacher... I feel stupid in my physics class too, don't worry! Maybe you should ask your algebra teacher for extra help? I dunno... thanks for reviewing anyway.**


	24. The Hunt Begins

**Okay… it is finally holidays! Again… Well I do have a good excuse for not updating last holidays, severe writer's block D:**

**Also I want to see what else the manga has to say about that village elder guy, Danzo or whatever… Possibly a plot for a possible part three?**

**Chapter 24- **The Hunt Begins

The earth shuddered violently beneath my feet. I searched for the source of such tremors and it soon became apparent that this was no natural earthquake. I didn't need my Sharingan to notice the Kyuubi's battle had resumed.

I could see the red ball of chakra, even at this distance, moving towards the edge of Konoha. Obviously Naruto still had half a brain if he was trying to lead 'Gaara' out of the village. I briefly wondered who had revived Naruto from the genjutsu-induced sleep.

"So… We're supposed to capture _that_?" Sasuke wondered aloud. I knew he was using 'that' to refer to the powerful mass of chakra inside of Naruto.

"Not today." I replied, almost wryly.

I turned my focus to Gaara. He was, surprisingly, quite similar to Naruto, though his chakra wasn't nearly as large. He lacked the necessary power, but perhaps his skill and knowledge would be enough to allow him to survive this battle. It was difficult to tell whether Gaara too was one of the tailed beasts, or if he was simply very gifted in the area of chakra.

I unwillingly deactivated my Sharingan and lowered myself to sit at the base of the tree I had previously been leaning against. Accepting that there was nothing left for me to do, I slowly began to relax.

Kisame was standing nearby, staring at what I assumed to be the battle, taking place below. I knew that Sasuke was still sitting in the branches of the tree, above me.

Already, I could tell it would take a long time for Naruto and Gaara to wear each other down and declare a victor. "Let's move. We will return in two days. That should be enough time…"

I tried to get to my feet, but I was surprised that struggled. Sasuke jumped from the tree and knelt next to me. Taking my arm, he supported most of my weight so I that I could get back to my feet. It was easier to continue walking than getting up from a sitting position. No wonder inexperienced people often froze to death in the Snow country…

"Where are we actually going?" Kisame questioned.

"Away from that." I replied as I stared in the direction of the raging battle, before we traveled further into the trees.

* * *

Eight hundred meters and a few hours of waiting later, the battle had ceased. Night had fallen not so long ago and the sudden silence seemed out of place. Despite my obvious fatigue, I found that sleep did not come very easily. I stared up the star-swathed sky, listening.

I was listening for any signs of the battle continuing in a location that I considered a little too close for comfort. I tried to will myself to sleep, knowing that I only had two days of rest before we would have to reenter Konoha.

The two days passed all too quickly; already we had to get back into action. However, I was still reluctant to let Sasuke be seen with us undisguised. So, for the moment, we made our way to the back of Konoha, circling the village with a large radius.

This time we did not want to enter Konoha disguised, though we did want our presence to be hidden for as long as possible. I would have to instruct the other two on how to pass through the barrier without drawing any attention to us.

The only shinobi in Konoha who knew of the barrier were the Hokage, those who maintained it, and the captains of ANBU squads. Essentially, passing through the barrier was relatively simple, but the barrier was set at a certain distance so that it would be the last thing on an invading squad's minds.

The more you tried to conceal your chakra signature, the more easily the maintainers of the barrier could spot you.

"Perform ninjutsu as you pass through the barrier." I summed up out loud. I could simply pass through whilst activating the Sharingan, but I preferred to play it safe and use a genjutsu instead. Both Kisame and my brother opted with bunshin.

We approached the gates at an average pace, not wanting to create too much suspicion as of yet. The individual Akatsuki members were definitely known to be dangerous by their respective countries of origin, however, the organisation itself was still considered by most to merely be a rumour.

The two guards that stood at the gates straightened visibly as we approached. To me, this indicated that they were still chuunnin. They were also standing on the same side of the gate, which probably meant they hadn't been paying full attention to the task at hand.

We stopped before them, but before they could say anything, I had already used the Sharingan to quietly incapacitate them

"You know, we should probably check the hospital first, I doubt he got out of that fight without significant injuries." I said as I tipped my hat forwards a little so that no one could see my eyes.

"I don't know, he probably would have healed by now, I saw the kyuubi's chakra doing it when we were in the forest." Sasuke replied as we made our way through the semi-crowded street. "Somewhere that sells ramen would be more likely." He commented.

"Or we could wait until nighttime and go to his apartment. He even told us where he lives, remember?" I responded. We were now walking alongside what looked like a large lake. I remembered that there was something similar at one of the training fields… Still with the amount of sunlight in this country, I had always found it strange that such large bodies of water could be sustained all year round.

But before we could decide on a location I saw two chakra signatures pursuing us. Judging from the way they had tried to be concealed, I assumed that these shinobi were jonin… or above.

Before they could turn the corner, I quickly cast a genjutsu. It covered Sasuke's most obvious features with a fabricated Akatsuki uniform. Not long afterward, a man and a woman came into view.

I easily recognised Sarutobi Asuma, for he hadn't changed very much since he had taught me about refining and controlling my chakra correctly when I was younger. However, those principles were difficult to apply to the Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Akatsuki?" They both questioned simultaneously. They had obviously done more than just memorise the bingo book, as any half-decent shinobi would. Either they believed the rumours, or someone had found proof of our existence.

I doubted that we would find Naruto this time around, unless he decided to conveniently stroll past at this moment. We had already aroused suspicion and gotten into a conflict. Undoubtedly, Kakashi would show up at any moment.

"Jiraiya already warned us." The woman spoke as she positioned her hands, ready to form a chain of hand seals if need be. "Leave the village and the jinchuuriki now, or we will have to take you out ourselves."

She was obviously uncomfortable, from her point of view it would appear that they were outnumbered. Little did they know that my brother was yet to be a match for a fully-fledged jonin. They wouldn't face us without sending for some form of backup. I didn't need to be a child prodigy to figure out who would be sent.

I realised that we would need to finish our opponents if we wanted to remain in the village for a few more hours. Of course I did not want to kill any Konoha nin after the recent disaster.

"Let's go." I stated and cast a more basic genjutsu. It would momentarily distract them and give us time to escape. We began to make a beeline for the main gate, but the red eyed woman was much more skilful when it came to genjutsu than I had given her credit for.

She had removed the genjutsu's effects at record speeds, which meant the disguising genjutsu had probably also become ineffective.

Aware of the possible danger, Kisame swung his sword at the woman. She quickly dodged, but part of her chakra had still been sapped. By this time I had already removed Sasuke from the immediate area, hoping that she had not seen him undisguised. We should have been fast enough… should have…

* * *

I wasn't entirely sure where Kisame was, nor what he was doing. I fervently hoped he was not causing too much mayhem and/or destruction. I stopped atop a tree that was only a few hundred meters from the main gate. We were well hidden amongst the branches.

"I'll keep a look out for Kisame's chakra signature. You know Naruto's best, see if you can find him." I muttered, casting my gaze over the town's people. They were all much too small to be Kisame's.

"Um, Niisan, he's right there…" Sasuke muttered, pointing at a small shop. 'Ichiraku Ramen' was written on the squares of material hung above the entrance.

I frowned, remembering Sasuke's earlier comments. "Are you absolutely sure?" I asked, noticing there was another ninja in there with him. I had only glimpsed this signature once with my Sharingan, out the corner of my eye, but I was sure that Jiraiya was in there with him.

"Good work Sasuke, but it doesn't matter. I think that Jiraiya of the Sannin is in there with him anyway. We don't have time to deal with someone like that." I murmured, finally having spotted Kisame's approaching chakra.

We sprinted outside of the village, in dire need of a better plan. At least the Kyuubi's position had been confirmed. Still, we would have to formulate a way to separate them.

**I hope to update again before the end of this holidays, but don't count on it. My teachers decided that holiday homework was a novel idea that we should all participate in…**

**Anonymous Reviewers**

**Anonymous Reader: **Thank you for reviewing as always. Find any possible diseases yet? Or maybe one that it can be based on...

**HinaWeasel:** He doesn't know who all the jinchuuriki are... yet. I'm glad... goddamn I say that too much. Quick, list ten synonym's for glad! Anyway, thankyou for reviewing again.

**iwalkinthelight: **Sorry this took so long! I don't mind long reviews, they are interesting to read. Also I'm glad that you think I'm getting Itachi's character right, it was actually pretty hard to get into the role, some probably think I still don't have it right heh. Guess what, guess what, I achieved the impossible and got a B for my overall semester grade in Physics! I hope you are improving as well.

**Rielle: **Oh don't encourage me... I'll never get this story done if I do that! I have an original story to work on as well now. Thankyou for the review, I like to hear people's thoughts, even if they encourage me to do silly things :P


	25. Tanzaku Town

**Chapter 25- **Tanzaku Town

"Where are they going?" I wondered aloud, quietly of course. I was straining to make out the chakras of Naruto and Jiraiya, who were standing in the gates of Konoha. This is easier said than done when I had to do it from a distance that allowed us to stay hidden from them in return. If only the Uchiha had managed to retain a few more of the Byakugan's properties when the Sharingan mutated from it…

"He must've noticed us in the village yesterday, but I think someone would have told him we were there anyway. He must be taking the brat out of the village to get him away from us." Kisame answered, even though that much was obvious.

"We'll just have to try and follow them whilst remaining undetected… If you see a toad, incapacitate it." I added. Whilst children in the Water country grew up with legends and rumours about giant swords (the Samehada being one of them), I had heard plenty of stories about the Sannin. Toad, slug, snake were some of the most well known summoning animals.

I noticed an orange blob, which was Naruto at this distance, bouncing up and down with what appeared to be excitement as they traveled down the road. We would have to be very careful if we wanted to avoid being detected by a shinobi such as Jiraiya.

* * *

The trip only took a day before we met with the civilization of Tanzaku Town. I found it odd that he had decided to come to such a popular gambling place. Was he optimistically hoping to find Tsunade here? Surely a planned meeting wouldn't be held in such an obvious place…

On the positive side, a lot of tourists also came here to sightsee. This played to our advantage because we could hide amongst the large crowd and get closer to our targets.

After booking a room at a hotel and leaving some of their belongings, Naruto and Jiraiya continued on their way out of the town. Knowing they would have to return eventually, we did not bother to follow them.

"So, what should we do now?" Sasuke asked, turning to me.

"We should secure the perimeter. I'll check around their hotel and see if there's any way to poison Jiraiya or otherwise gain an upper hand. Kisame, check the borders and find out if there is anyone else in the current vicinity that we need to worry about. Sasuke, check the village center and familiarise yourself with the surroundings. It'll be important if things lead to a chase. Stay out of trouble and report back here in three hours." I directed, realising I should spell things out for my brother to make sure he learnt how to conduct these missions properly.

Kisame saluted mockingly before using a teleportation jutsu to quickly get to the town's border. Sasuke nodded in understanding before leaping down from our current perch on the roof and into a quiet back alley. He was looking at escape routes first; he had learnt a lot from the academy.

I began my inspection of the room Naruto and Jiraiya had booked. I looked through their belongings for things such as ransom items and promising objects to poison, though I doubted that I would find anything worthwhile. I made sure to return everything back to its exact position before moving on to the kitchens.

* * *

Finally, Niisan had left. I knew his 'stay out of trouble' comment had been implying that I shouldn't go looking for Tsunade, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity.

When I was inspecting a quiet alleyway, a door noisily burst open. I soon found out that it was the back door to a pub.

"Now, if you two weren't so much trouble, I'd keep you around to make me rich." An obviously drunk Tsunade commented as she stared me down imperiously. Her face was flushed and she was swaying slightly, despite her stable stance. I'd been extremely lucky that she'd found me, but I felt that because she was in such a state, I wouldn't get anything coherent out of her anyway.

"Well, I have a few hours away from my brother." I replied, going out on a limb. I hoped she wouldn't take advantage of my trust.

She just nodded before saying, "Yes, yes, we need to have a little chat." Tsunade turned back into the pub and gestured that I should follow.

She sat down at a table, which already had a small bottle of sake sitting on it. She patted the area on the bench-like seat next to her, indicating I should sit. "I am willing to change our deal if you give me more information on the Akatsuki. I doubt you can raise 750 000 ryo in four years anyway."

"Technically I do have a very large inheritance because I don't think Konoha would be willing to hand it over to my brother." I replied, thinking about the size of my family and trying not to dwell on the size of the massacre. I noticed that Tsunade was swishing her sake around thoughtfully, but she wasn't drinking anymore.

"Ah, but information isn't subject to inflation. Tell me what you know about them, then we can haggle another price." Tsunade replied.

I knew that all of the other noise in the pub would drown out our conversation to anyone who might be listening. "I don't want to say too much. They wouldn't hesitate in killing me if they found out. I know my brother would defend me, but even he isn't that powerful." I knew we'd both just end up dying.

"Alright, just confirm these rumours for me then." Tsunade amended. I nodded, feeling that if I didn't talk, I wasn't really giving anything away.

"Their main headquarters, is it still in Amegakure?"

I nodded carefully. I assumed it was still the main headquarters, anyway. They could have easily shifted camp in the time I'd been away.

She fired her next question. "How many active members are there, not including yourself? Eight?"

I briefly thought before holding up nine fingers. I didn't include Tobi, he was never there.

"Do you only travel with your brother?" Shake head, no. "Is your newest member Iwa no Deidara?" Nod, yes. "How many jinchuuriki have you captured?"

I wasn't sure about this one so I shrugged and held up two fingers. Only a couple, I thought. All I had to do was fully convince myself that I wasn't giving away information and I would be able to pass a lie detector.

"Do you have the sharingan?" Nod. "Does Orochimaru know?" Yes. "Do you have a curse seal?" No, shake. "Would you return to Konoha if you could?"

I hesitated, knowing that there was a very slim chance that my brother would ever be able to go back. I did want to go, but I would rather live away from there and look after my brother.

"How did this turn into an interrogation about my personal life, anyway?" I asked before answering her original question, "I want to stay with my brother."

Tsunade nodded slowly. "Well, I ran out of rumours and questions. I don't want to go around healing evil older brothers if it's just going to come back and bite me." She replied before calling for Shizune.

"Yes, Tsunade sama?" She asked as she appeared from the crowd with a suitcase of money and the pig that wasn't too fond of my brother.

"Where are the files?" Tsunade asked, putting her still full sake bottle down. Shizune removed some papers from her person before sitting down opposite us and handing them over.

"We'll have to find a way to, er, disable your brother long enough to perform a proper diagnosis. However, I suspect that this has to do with some form of internal bleeding and possibly rupturing of alveoli." She explained, pointing at a sketch of the lungs.

She then pointed to a picture of what my brother's lungs probably looked like. I imagined it was what a chain smoker's started to resemble after a few months.

"I'm also guessing his immune system is attacking itself, or rather, him. If he starts getting weaker and weaker for no apparent reason then it probably means I'm right. If it is left alone then several vital systems will probably collapse such as breathing and absorbing nutrients from food in the small intestine."

"You mean like Coeliac disease?" I asked, recognising the small intestine problem from somewhere.

She smiled, "Yes, but gluten won't be involved. It seems you had a very thorough teacher."

"I still can't fix broken bones very well." I muttered more to myself. Breaking a bone again because you failed to fix it correctly the first time is not very fun.

"Yes, stopping excessive internal bleeding can also be quite difficult." Tsunade muttered in return, adopting an expression, which I could only describe as depressed. I noticed Shizune shift slightly, also looking a little sad.

"Anyway," Tsunade broke the silence. "Rehabilitating your brother will have to be a hit and miss affair. He'll have to be motivated to learn and you will have to reteach in a way that exploits the way he learns."

"Uchiha are generally visual learners…" I said, wondering how Niisan had gotten through the Academy in only one year. It would have been easier than the Water country, but still. He must have had learnt behaviours already ingrained as instinct or something.

"I'd better go out and do what I'm actually supposed to be doing, or my brother will get suspicious. I'll try to make a further diagnosis and contact you somehow." I stated as I stood to leave.

"Here," she interrupted, tossing me a tiny scroll. It was probably about the size of my index finger. "Seal a message in there and I'll get it." She explained, holding up a matching one. "Now get out." She said impishly, as she pointed towards the exit.

I nodded and left, tucking it into the reverse seam of my pants. Unless I got strip searched, no one would find it.

* * *

I hadn't found any way of poisoning or otherwise assassinating Jiraiya, but I had found out that he was a pervert. He did have morals though, so I could probably make a woman 'go after him' in good conscience. It wasn't like she would get raped.

When I returned to our rendezvous, Kisame was already waiting and I could sense Sasuke was approaching.

"I think there may be another Sannin here, but it might have just been a rumour." Kisame contributed without prompting.

"The only thing I can think to do to get Jiraiya away from Naruto is to get a woman to lead him away." I said as I watched the sunset, morbidly wondering how many more I would get to see. "That would probably only fool him for all of about five minutes though." I added.

"This place is a lot like Konoha with all its back alleyways and a confusing layout. But it is much less built up in most areas, so a rooftop escape won't get you very far." Sasuke said as he fiddled with his shirt.

I nodded in response and said, "We will prepare an ambush in the morning then."

**Ok, so I'm back now. But I won't be able to post anything for another five weeks. More exams… But then there is ten weeks of holidays! Year 11 does have its perks.**

**Please leave me a review, the last chapter only got four, so I'm feeling a bit unloved.**

**Anonymous Reviewers:**

**HinaWeasel: Ok... I'm tickled pink you reviewed! Thank you for sticking with the story.**

**iwalkinthelight: Tsk, tsk, homework first. Like I can talk, I only have three days to finish mine off *whistles innocently* Thanks for reviewing, hope you liked this chapter.  
**


	26. Diagnosis

**Aha! No more school for about two months. That means more updates. I'm busy doing all the stuff I couldn't do during school at the moment, but if you bother me enough, I will probably want to write more. Enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter 26- **Diagnosis

I woke when I sensed someone approaching. My immediate thoughts involved why Kisame had not alerted me earlier, which inevitably led to the thought of ANBU or Hunter Nin. Their arm appeared to be encased in chakra as though they had an attack ready. But my instincts soon slowed down and made room for rational thought processes. This chakra was familiar… I opened my eyes to see Sasuke crouching nearby.

"Sorry Niisan, I didn't mean to wake you up." He said, sounding a little nervous.

My Sharingan was enough to prove that this really was Sasuke, and not a very good actor. However, that did not explain why he was so nervous. "What were you doing?" I asked.

"I…" I noticed he broke eye contact before opening his mouth to continue.

"Don't bother lying." I spoke over him.

Sasuke sighed and approached me, sitting next to me. "Well, I was trying to give you a proper diagnosis, actually… Now the disease is more developed, it might be easier to identify."

I sighed in return; "You've seen Tsunade recently, haven't you?" I kept my questions about how he could have possibly gone about a diagnosis that involved chakra, without waking me up in the process.

"Maybe…?" He replied unconvincingly. I removed my heavy Akatsuki coat, knowing the diagnosis would be easier with less material in the way.

"Go on then, I do want to get some rest tonight." I replied, as I lay spread-eagled on the ground to allow for easy inspection of all of my organs.

Looking surprised by my consent, Sasuke placed his hands a few centimeters above my lower abdomen. His chakra-encased hands systematically searched my torso for defects. He paused after going over my lungs for the third time, frowning. His hand then proceeded to follow my trachea, eventually reaching my mouth. Here he pulled upwards, revealing a ball of green chakra.

My brother activated the Sharingan and began inspecting whatever he'd pulled out of my airways. "I _think_ it's a fungus. It would explain why your condition is chronic, anyway." He commented, referring to the slow development of the disease. "Also why you've been losing weight and getting more easily fatigued. I think it's Histoplasmosis, but it seems kind of weird, like a mutated strain." He continued as he pulled out a container, which had an airtight seal, and trapped the microscopic specimen inside.

"I may or may not have to see Tsunade again…" He smiled weakly.

* * *

It was so early that the sun hadn't risen yet. Niisan had let me go see Tsunade again while he and Kisame did some more surveillance. Luckily for me, Tsunade was staying in a room on the floor above the pub she was drinking at last night, so it was quite easy for me to find her.

I knocked on her window with a purposeful rhythm, letting my presence be known. "Yes?" Shizune questioned from behind me as Tsunade sat up on her futon, rubbing her head.

"I have a specimen from my brother that needs identifying." I replied, holding up the container, which encased the few spores I'd gathered from my brother. She nodded in acceptance, before opening the window and entering the room.

A previously bleary Tsunade was suddenly sharp and attentive. She appeared to be waiting for my explanation. "Can you identify this?" I asked, proffering the container. "I think it's some strain of Histoplasmosis…

"You got this out of Itachi, right?" She asked, unfurling a scroll, which she used to gain access to a high powered microscope.

"Yeah, it wasn't that easy, I think he almost killed me in his sleep." I admitted sheepishly. "Without the Sharingan I probably wouldn't even have noticed the pathogen." I reflected.

Tsunade nodded as she very carefully created a slide to view the organism. Five minutes of tense silence later, she gave her verdict. "You're right, it is some form of Histoplasmosis, but not one I've ever seen. I wonder where it originated…" She pondered aloud, returning the spores to their container with her own chakra.

"I'll check to see if it has infected his eyes. Maybe… that's why the mangekyo degenerates the user's eyesight." I voiced the beginnings of my hypothesis.

"You know, to cure this he'll have to be hooked up to an IV for at least six months. The drug we'll have to use is usually called Amphitericin B, but it has a lot of side effects. Hypertension, generalised weakness and possible anorexia, to name a few." Tsunade warned, sounding a bit like an encyclopaedia.

"It 's never easy, is it?" I muttered, feeling as though I had gone backwards again. "There are way too many spores to remove them all manually. Not sure how I'm going to convince my brother to stay still for six months."

"In a few years he'll be too weak to do much else. I'll start working on the eye transplant theory, update me on any information you get." She stated in clear dismissal.

I nodded in understanding before climbing out of the window and returning to my brother.

* * *

As Sasuke crouched next to me in the tree I was observing Jiraiya training Naruto from, I raised an eyebrow at him in askance. At the moment we found ourselves in a stalemate position; neither of our groups could do anything to the other. But I knew they would have to be the first to move.

As specks in the distance, Naruto and Jiraiya could not hear my brother reply, "We have to stick you to an IV for six months, but the drug sounds pretty… dangerous… I need to check your eyes for the fungus, too."

"Why, what's your theory?" I asked, curious.

"Well, I think that when the mangekyo is activated for the first time, so are a heap of specifically mutated Histoplasmosis spores. Then over time, they start eating away at your body and eyesight. If the eyes are replaced, some sort of hormone is probably released, which kills off the pathogen. I don't know; I'm still working on that last part." My brother explained, seeming to look a little put out by his lack of complete knowledge.

"There must be more to it." I replied. Personally I thought his theory had some potential, but it also raised questions about how we were born with an inactive pathogen in our body. Perhaps a jutsu had been used to ensure it was passed down along with the Sharingan… "There are no accounts of anyone simply swapping eyes. Then again, 'geniuses' aren't exactly commended for their practicality…" I continued.

Sasuke just smiled before becoming serious again and asking, "What made you change your mind Niisan?"

I knew he was referring to the fact that I had suddenly begun supporting his want to heal me, rather than scolding him for it. "If having me live is that important to you, why should I then just give up and die? I'm sure I can put up with being useless if it will make you happy. I wanted you to return to Konoha, but whilst I'm alive and dependent on you, that's practically impossible. Do as you will." I said with finality as I exited the current vicinity to get any reports from Kisame.

**Anonymous Reviewers**

**HinaWeasel: **I was trying not to use too much medical jargon, but after studying Human Biology when they expect it... Well I found it hard to put less in. Still, as long as the general gist is understandable, it won't make the story any harder to keep up with. Thanks for reviewing as usual, I'll try to update more often.

**helen marciz: **I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for telling me what you thought of it.


	27. Action

**So… I guess you can consider this your Christmas present? (Don't kill me!) In my absence, my style has probably changed, along with my main fandom. I'm not a Narutard anymore. But I will try to finish this story before I move on to Hetalia fan fiction. I'm thinking there will be another 3-4 chapters of this.**

**Chapter 27- **Action

Still, there had been no indication of Naruto and Jiraiya breaking our current stalemate. But, they would have to eventually. They couldn't very well live out the rest of their lives here.

In the meantime, Sasuke had continued pestering me about checking my eyes. To be honest, I was curious about the fungus, but I made him wait until evening. We would be able to move to a safe and private place to carry out the diagnosis more easily, under the cover of darkness.

As we shifted to a covered position on the ground, Kisame moved to sit in the branches of a tall tree. Occasionally he looked back at us, questioningly. I sat with my legs crossed, in front of my brother. He sat on his knees in order to be able to comfortably reach my eyes. I dully reflected that it wouldn't be long before he was as tall as I was.

After only a few moments, he removed his chakra from my system. "I'm pretty sure it's the fungus that's making you go blind. But I'm still not entirely sure where it came from…" He evaluated.

I nodded slightly, digesting this information.

"I don't suppose you'll have a spare six months to go on an IV any time soon?" Sasuke asked optimistically, rubbing his own eyes tiredly.

"I think not." I replied, pulling his hands away from his face. "Rubbing just makes it worse." I reminded him.

Sasuke just nodded. I couldn't know whether it was an acceptance of my reminder, or a signal that he had expected me to say as much.

Suddenly, Kisame interrupted us, "They're making a break for it. Should we chase?"

"Yes, the sooner we have the nine-tails, the sooner we can leave." I replied, surprising both of them. Quite frankly, I'd had enough of mission life. Moreover, it wasn't likely the situation was going to improve, not with Jiraiya being there every second of the day.

My brother looked apprehensive, but he followed Kisame and I as we moved out, anyway.

"What is it?" I asked of him, trusting Kisame to lead us for now. I had to gauge the likelihood of my brother fighting against us, rather than with us.

He simply shook his head and looked away, chewing on his lower lip.

I had seen this reaction before, in our days of childhood. "You feel guilty." I stated, rather than questioned.

"Of course I do!" He snapped suddenly, looking anywhere but at me. "Being responsible for the death of one of the few who actually tried to befriend you. It's not exactly a warm and fuzzy feeling, you know. "

"Yes," I replied, "I do know. I'm sorry you have to experience such a thing. While I can empathise, I find it impossible to sympathise. If you're going to be more hindrance than help, it would be better if you left the battle now. I can meet you at the North Gate of Tanzaku later."

He looked up at me in surprise before firmly answering, "No, I'll help… If he's my only friend, does that mean he's my best friend? I suppose this will lead to the Mangekyo…"

I had not thought of this possibility before now. Perhaps the activation of the Mangekyo was purely psychological. Perhaps there would be no need to facilitate the Akatsuki's plans. If I just had Sasuke think Naruto died because of his actions… I doubted the Mangekyo could retract once Sasuke discovered the truth.

"In that case, you should be the one to distract Naruto, whilst Kisame and I take care of Jiraiya. You don't have to fight him, just make sure he doesn't intervene with nine-tails' power."

My brother nodded, his mouth forming a grimly determined line.

I increased my pace a little, in order to catch up to Kisame. "Sasuke will handle the bijuu. For now, we need to eliminate Jiraiya, which will be no simple task."

"He's heading towards water… This one summons frogs, right? I would expect those, along with water element jutsu."

Again, I didn't ask how he knew the exact location of nearby water. It had saved us from needing to drink our own urine to survive on more than one occasion, so I was definitely glad he had the ability. "That is to your advantage, but not so much to mine." I conceded. "Perhaps we'll have an advantage if this means he's underestimating you. Even so, I can attempt to distract with genjutsu, but I doubt many of my katon techniques will get through."

Kisame snickered, "You might get a few seconds of advantage if you turn into a girl again."

"Perhaps. But I'm sure we'd gain at least a whole minute if you appeared as a female." I replied dryly.

He would probably have continued that banter if we hadn't reached the vicinity of the river at that point. I halted at the base of a tree using its wide trunk and the surrounding plant life for cover.

I cast a complex genjutsu over the area. It caused our foes to see us lurking behind every tree in our surroundings. Its effect was somewhat like the clone jutsu, but rather more conservative, chakra-wise.

Unbeknownst to Sasuke, I also set up a genjutsu, which would cause him to see Naruto die. Even if, in reality, he would have either passed out or escaped.

I nodded to Kisame, signaling I was ready. He made several hand signs, causing the water to swell irregularly. The current made both Naruto and Jiraiya lose their balance, but they had indeed been sitting in wait. Toads, frogs, large and small began closing in from all directions. Yet more waited in the water.

I nodded towards Sasuke, who ran out of cover, yelling to Naruto, "You have to get out of here!"

Jiraiya hesitated, not attacking my younger brother, who promptly took this opportunity to grab Naruto's wrist and drag him out of the water. Once they were gone, Naruto yelling something loudly about supporting Jiraiya and triumphing over evil, Kisame's artificial current increased in size and strength.

Whilst Jiraiya's small army of toads looked intimidating, I found they were easily dispersed with a well-placed explosive tag. Once the smoke from their disappearance had cleared, there was only one left to worry about. It occurred to me that this smoke screen was probably meant to separate Sasuke from Kisame and I. Well, it was too late for that now. I hoped my brother wasn't doing anything foolish right now…

**When I decide what will actually happen next I will post. I promise. Tell me, has my writing style changed too much? Is everyone still in character?**

**Anonymous Reviewers (even if you've all probably given up on this story by now): **

**Brock: **Thanks, hope you enjoy this chapter as well.**  
**

**HinaWeasel: **Glad you like it. I promised I would update and here it is, perhaps a little later than usual... ...

**Cherry: **Yes, it is wonderful :) Glad you like the stories.


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